


Die Another Day

by CelestialSymphony



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-16
Updated: 2014-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-05 12:30:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 26
Words: 51,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialSymphony/pseuds/CelestialSymphony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave is home alone as Bro has left for a few days.  Enjoying his freedom to get in some much needed "relief", Dave pays little attention to John's observation that his Dad and Dave's Bro always seem to go on business trips at the same time.  But maybe it's not such a coincidence after all...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Dave’s chest heaved as a line of sweat rolled down his pulsating skin, spilling onto his contracting abdomen, before slipping into the course blond pubic hair and being splashed away as his hand came crashing down, his fingers wrapped tightly around his sweat slicked dick.  Eyes smashed shut and jaw working, he tried to concentrate to the grunting and moaning coming from his computer as he pumped himself furiously with one hand and cradling his balls with the other.  The Texas heat was oppressive and masturbating wasn’t helping, but he tried to keep himself from thinking about the heat, only concentrating on his hand stroking up and down, the sounds coming from his computer, and a fuzzy mix of images that chased across his mind in dizzying chaos. 

With a frustrated grunt, the blond tore his eyes open as he switched hands, freeing his right one to grab clumsily at the computer mouse while trying to keep up his heavy pace.  Closing out the current video, he scrolled quickly down through the heavy cache of video clips.  When in a more sober state of mind, Dave sometimes scoffed at his own seemingly sick obsession with porn.  The half of his hard drive that wasn’t dedicated to music seemed to be filled with busty blonds riding hard bodied jocks after some crummy dialogue that lead into an all-out screaming fuck fest.  Realistically, though, he hardly watched any of them, just collected them.  That wasn’t to say he didn’t pump out a good one every day, sometimes two or three times a day.  It was just these videos inevitably would fail to keep his dick hard, let alone bring him to the every pulling climax.

With a resigned sigh that only came from the desperation of needing to finish, Dave scrolled to another file folder and clicked through the intricate pathways to a special hidden stash of videos.  There weren’t many files here, and each was labeled with a rather innocuous title.  With a quick glance over his shoulder, the blond double clicked on the file branded DDJ001.  A video window opened up to the passion twisted face of a well-toned brunet guy panting heavily, before panning out to find and equally fit blond man pumping his dick in and out of the other.  Dave’s cock twitched in his hand and he switched back to his right one, the pace picking up as a familiar fire grew low in his belly.  His eyes remained glued to the screen as from behind the first blond stepped another man, also blond and ripped.  This new comer wrapped his arms around the slightly smaller man, his own rock hard cock sliding up along the thrusting man’s ass.  Dave let out an insuppressible moan as the taller blond reached around the shorter to grab ahold of the prone brunet’s neglected cock.

With a scream the brunet in the video was cumming, and suddenly Dave’s own voice ripped from his lips as he too spilled rope after rope of creamy white liquid on his chest and stomach until finally a few dripped spasms landed with his pooled sweat in his blond pubic hairs.  As his breathing began to slow back down, Dave watched the video carry on for a few more seconds.  It was when the shorter blond turned and kissed the taller that he hastily closed out the video, logged out the file, and slammed his laptop closed.   Grabbing a shirt from the floor beside him, he quickly whipped away any evidence of his deed before tossing the used garment with a pile of other dirty clothes near the door.

Peeling himself out of his computer chair, Dave stood and stretched.  The room was dark save for the lights of the city that filtered in through the apartment window.  Running a hand through his hair, the blond cringed at how sweaty and greasy it felt.  A shower was definitely in order.  Not bothering to put on any clothes, Dave sauntered out of his bedroom and down the hall.  The apartment was as dark as his room, but the blond didn’t search the shadows like he normally would, seeing if anyone was waiting to pounce.  Bro was out of town for two more days, and Dave had been enjoying his mini-vacation.  School was out for the summer so Dave had adopted his usual habit of sleeping when he wanted to, staying up till he dropped, and generally doing nothing with his life.  He cringed when he thought about it being his last summer to do it.  Next summer he’d be 18 and graduated.

Harsh yellowed light stung his eyes as he flicked on the bathroom lights.  Half blinded, Dave groped around in the shower till he found the taps and turned them till there was a steady hiss of steamy water pouring out.  Ducking under the water, Dave let out a sigh as he felt the grime and sweat wash away as the heat soaked into his tensed muscles.  His mind wandered briefly to the images and sounds he’d just been enjoying and a flash of guilt and shame washed across him.  He tried to quickly shake the feeling and instead enjoy the shower, but a quick movement caught his eye and reflexively he looked up.  There wasn’t anyone there, only his reflection in the mirror across the bathroom.  He’d forgotten to close the shower door in his haste to wash off.  As he reached to pull the door closed, however, he slowed and finally stopped his movement.  Watching himself in the mirror, Dave slowly pulled his arm back, before tracing it across his chest, letting the water spill over him. 

Closing his eyes, Dave imagined the heat of the water to be the heat of another body pressed up behind him.  His other hand joined in sweeping slowly across his chest as his right one drifted down, slipping through his bristly pubic hair before tentatively touching his cock.  It jumped to life and Dave gasped, his eyes shooting open.  Determined, he stared at himself in the mirror as he wrapped his hand firmly around his quickly hardening cock.  He felt the warmth on his back as his hands began to pump and caress him towards a second climax.  Thrusting his hips, Dave could almost feel the legs wrapping around his thighs for support as his hand tightened, simulating the brunet in the video, what it must have been like to push deep into him and pull back out only to slam in again.  Quite suddenly, Dave’s cock exploded with another powerful orgasm as he slammed his up against the shower wall.  His breathing returning to normal, Dave couldn’t shake the guilt and shame fully this time.

“Damn,” he drawled, both exhausted and exhilarated, before ducking quickly under the water.

Shutting off the taps, the blond grabbed a towel and quickly dried off, avoiding the mirror at all costs.  Tossing the towel over his shoulder and flicking off the light, Dave submerged himself back into the gentle darkness of the apartment.  Tossing his towel across his computer chair to keep his ass from sticking to it in the sweltering heat, Dave flipped open his laptop, the glow lighting up his face as he quickly clicked through windows and pulled up Pesterchum.  Almost instantly, the blond was attacked by bright blue text that flashed at him excitedly.

EB: dave

EB: i’m soooooooooo booooooooooorrrrreeed

EB: entertain me

EB: come on man don’t leave a bro hanging

EB: there are only so many movies i can watch

EB: and rose has been going at me nonstop with her psychological analysis bullshit

EB: daaaaaaaaavvvvvveeeee

TG: dude chill

TG: give a guy two seconds to type here man

EB: sorry

EB: I’m just kind of going stir crazy here

TG: how longs your old man been gone

EB: two days and he won’t be back till late tomorrow night

EB: it’s terrible

TG: says you

EB: oh that’s right

EB: when’s your bro coming back?

TG: couple days

TG: man tell you what

TG: its been so amazing having free reign like this

TG: party every night

TG: different bitch bouncing on my dick

EB: eww!

TG: titties to the max Egbert

EB: yeah right

EB: you’ve been logged into pesterchum every night

TG: so

EB: and we’ve chatted for hours every night

TG: who says i cant type and fuck a girl with huge knockers at the same time

EB: who even says knockers anymore?

EB: you’re soooooo laaaaaammeee

TG: fuck you

TG: you wish you had one iota of my swag

EB: hey dave

TG: sup

EB: you ever notice how my dad and your bro tend to go away at roughly the same time?

TG: never really crossed my mind

EB: what if they’re like part of a secret conspiracy or something?

TG: yeah right

TG: not unless theres a convention for fucked up porn superstars

TG: and your dad is secretly part of the puppet porn empire

TG: though hed have to be an underboss cause my bro is like the fucking godfather of puppet smut

EB: eww

TG: im talkin secret meeting over felt dongs and plush rumps abound

EB: ok that’s gross

TG: i can just hear my bro now

TG: oh mr dadbert show me all the plush rumps

EB: ok you can stop now

TG: cue the badly written porn music

TG: something like sesame street meets deadmau5

EB: …

EB: you done?

TG: yeah

EB: damn, i’m hungry

TG: so eat

EB: i will

EB: you want to get in a game of league later?

TG: as long as you keep that pansy ass teemo off the screen

EB: there is absolutely nothing wrong with teemo

EB: shut your whore mouth

TG: go eat

TG: before i have to reach through this computer and smack you

EB: yeah yeah

EB: oh, dave, check it!

EB: i’ve been working out

EB: lacross tryouts are in about a month and i’m totally gonna get on the team this year

EB: anyway food

Just before John’s name went gray, a file transfer request popped up on Dave’s screen.  He immediately accepted and opened the file.  John’s goofy bespectacled face smiled back at him, his blue eyes sparkling and his mop of black hair wild and unruly as usual.  Instead of some graphic t-shirt though, there was only bare skin.  Tanned and smooth, with small dark nipples and a wisp of black chest hair, Dave traced John’s torso with his eyes.  There around the other man’s stomach where the hints of toned muscles, muddled by stubborn baby fat but there none the less.  At his belly button a dark trail of hair began before disappearing beneath khaki cargo shorts, low slung on the smiling boy’s hips.  Another wave of guilt and shame welled up inside Dave even as his cock jumped to attention.  Biting back a curse, the blond quickly shuffled through file folders until he brought back up the same video from earlier, keeping the window small enough so he could stare at a shirtless, toned, and smiling John.


	2. Chapter 2

EB: dave

EB: dave

EB: dave

EB: dave

EB: i’ll keep doing this till you answer

EB: dave

EB: dave

TG: jesus fuck

TG: cant a guy jerk off in peace

EB: haha eww

TG: do you know how often i have to tame this beast

TG: if we striders dont keep up with it

TG: cities will be leveled

EB: rolls eyes

EB: so wanna get in a round of league?

TG: you bet

Dave clicked around his desktop till the League Of Legends logo displayed on his screen.  Relaxing back in his chair, he idly ran his hand across his bare chest before sliding it down into his khaki shorts to scratch his thigh.  Briefly the thought of one more loud masturbation session crossed his mind.  His brother would be back in the morning and that would mean being back on edge all the time, ready for anything.  It also meant an indeterminable amount of time spent sexually frustrated.  It was still nerve wracking risking opening his secret hidden file when he knew he was alone, and with his brother home he’d have to be near the verge of exploding before he’d get reckless.  Strider’s were too cool to be gay.  If his brother caught him jerking it to some big tittied blond moaning like the cum slut she was, he’d probably just nod his approval and leave him alone to finish.  If he caught him wanking it to two dudes fucking ten ways to Sunday, however, he was pretty sure the guy would flip shit and he’d be lucky to escape the apartment alive.

As it was he’d been sure to take care of himself twice that day already and he felt pretty good, the guilty feeling only barely entering his consciousness as he filed away the picture John had sent him in his most secret of folders.  After a quick run through of his katas and a little sword practice, he’d showered and had been excited to find John waiting for him online.  He couldn’t let the goofy dork know he was excited though, he had a reputation to maintain.  He’d made sure to let John get a little antsy and send him a few messages before he responded.  In all actuality, he was glad to be playing games with John.  As the portal screen loaded, a creaking sound made Dave’s head snap to the left.  Scanning the darkness, he was satisfied when he felt a soft breeze blow in through his open window.  The smell of rain hung heavy in the air with the promise of a little relief from the oppressive heat, and the blond relished the chance to go up to the roof and soak in some cool rain later.

Dave clicked on the invite John had already shot him and quickly selected his champion.  A sword wielding barbarian with a horned helmet flashed in his character panel as he waited for the others to select their champions.  Dave and John exchanged friendly banter both in game and on pesterchum as they tore through the game, decimating the enemy towers and minions.  Dave’s champion had just been killed and he was waiting to respawn when a floor board let out a long drawn out creaking noise.  Dave immediately whirled around in his chair.  The room was dark save for the glow from his computer screen.  Another creak.  The sound echoed down the hall from the front room.  Agile as a cat, Dave grabbed his sword and threw his discarded shirt over his laptop.

With soft, calculating steps, the blond slunk out of his room and crept down the hall.  The air was thick and heavy and his ears rang, so focused, waiting for the smallest of sounds.  The pure blackness of the confined hallway shifted only slightly as the room opened up.  The little light that filtered in from the window cast faint shadows into the blackness as Dave scanned every one.  Then one shadow shifted.  Dave froze.  It was tall, and as his eye acclimated he found the outline of a man.  But something was wrong.  His arms were extended out in front of him, his back to the hall where Dave stood poised to strike.  His head was also weirdly shaped.  The figure shifted again and Dave saw the glint of sleek black metal.  A gun.

Suddenly the appearance became clear.  The man was standing in a battle stance, arms extended towards the closed apartment door, gun shaking ever so slightly.  He was nervous.  His body was covered in protective armor, a helmet on his head.  Dave immediately assessed the situation.  He would have to be quick, as this man was no mere intruder.  He was obviously trained, most likely SWAT or special forces of some kind.  If Dave could disarm him, though, he had a pretty fair chance of beating him.  But what if there were more?  He should retreat to his room.  His window was open and he could escape out there, scale up to the roof and look for an exit there.  That’s when a new sound made both Dave and the shadowed man tense up.  Keys in the door.

He didn’t think.  He didn’t have time to.  Dave leapt through the air, bringing his sword down hard on the right shoulder of the figure.  His armor was thick and absorbed the hit, though it suffered a deep gash.  The man whirled around but Dave was quicker.  With a kick and a summersault, the blond kicked the weapon loose and sent it sliding across the floor.  The figure returned a blow and Dave parried with his sword.  The man launched in with swift kicks and blows, furiously pummeling Dave who dropped his sword and raised his arms in defense.  Knocking Dave back onto his ass with a palm to the chest, the figure drew a side arm and aimed it at the panting blond.  Dave closed his eyes and held his breath.  His thoughts flashed suddenly to school, to driving, to playing on his computer, to sparing with his brother, to John. 

The muffled sound of a silenced gunshot rang with a sharp ting through the air.  Dave gasped, but no pain ever came.  He opened his eyes just in time to watch the man lurch forward as two more silenced shots penetrated the stillness, his chest jerking with each one before he crumpled to the floor.  There, standing at the door, chest heaving but with masked expression, gun raised and duffle bag discarded, stood Dave’s brother.

It was like something out of a movie.  Time seemed to stand still as the two men registered each other.  Then, with a whirl of motion, the older man slammed the door shut, grabbing a nearby chair and propping it under the handle.  Checking the body that lay on the floor, he retrieved the side arm and crossed to Dave.  With one finger held to his lips for silence, Bro pushed a gun into Dave’s hand before creeping down the hall, swinging into each door gun first.  Dave watched for a moment before his eyes returned to the lifeless figure on the floor in front of him.  Blood oozed from the corpse and began soaking into the carpet.  Dave felt a knot form in his stomach and would have lurched forward to vomit if a rough but familiar grip hadn’t hauled him to his feet.

“What the fuck,” Dave began shakily but shut up instantly as his red eyes met piercing orange.

“You do exactly as I say and we get out of this alive,” his voice was flat as usual but his eyes spoke to how serious he was, “We have to leave, now.”

“But Dirk,” Dave began.

“NOW!” Dirk hissed, his cool giving way to barely contained rage before he disappeared down the hall.

Scrambling to his room, Dave slammed the lid of his laptop closed and jammed it into his book bag.  Pulling his shirt hastily over his head, the blond ripped his phone charger out of the wall and tossed it in as well, slipping on his tennis shoes.  A crack of lightning tore through the air outside and Dave jumped.  Grabbing for the gun he’d flung onto his desk, he pointed it haphazardly at the open window where the curtain flapped in the breeze as he backed towards the door.  When he ran into something soft and warm, he whirled around, aiming the gun wildly.  Dirk quickly disarmed and steadied Dave with a hand on his shoulder. 

The older man inspected the firearm quickly, checking the clip and making sure the safety was off before handing it back to Dave, “Don’t shoot it unless I tell you to.  Stay behind me.  Let’s go.”

“Bro,” Dave began to question again, but his brother whirled on him.

“Now!” His voice was a growl through gritted teeth.

Dave’s mouth snapped shut as Dirk disappeared through the doorway.  Slinging his backpack on, Dave quietly crept behind his brother.  The gun in his hand felt foreign to him, so he mimicked the downward position he saw his brother stalk forward with.  Checking the living room was clear again, Dirk removed the chair from under the door and carefully opened it.  Suddenly a hail of bullets slammed into the doorframe and Dave dove for cover as Dirk waited for a brief reprieve before rounding the door and returning fire. 

As another hail of bullets slammed into the frame, Dirk called out, “Out the window.  Get to the roof.”

Dave just nodded, his training keeping him from completely flipping his shit.  Without needing to be told again, Dave dashed to the window and peered out as Dirk returned another volley of bullets.  Glancing out, Dave took in the staggering height and gulped.  Taking a deep breath and shoving the firearm in his pocket, the blond climbed out onto the window ledge and leapt up, grabbing a few key ledges.  A quick glance below him revealed Dirk quickly scrambling up after him.  When he reached the roof ledge, he heard the distinct crunch of gravel above him.  A man with a rifle stood right on the edge, the barrel pointed directly down at him.  A sudden anger welled up in Dave, an unexplainable determination to survive the situation, and he acted before he fully had time to think about what he was doing.  With a swift motion, the blond grabbed the man’s foot and pulled hard out over the ledge.  With a scream, the other tipped and fell, arms flailing as he swung out into nothingness and down into the streets below.  

A crack of lightning lit the horror and shock on Dave’s face at what he’d just done as rain soaked wind pulled at him, threatening to send him down with the poor bastard.  A firm hand on his loose arm steadied him and Dave looked up to find his brother pulling him to his feet.  Fat raindrops began to pound the gravel as Dave found his footing, clambering behind his brother who ran for the roof access door.  Kicking it in, the older man raced through the door and down the stairs.  Dave had to work to keep up with his brother as they swung and ran down the stairs.  When they came to the landing for their floor, Dirk pulled short and waved Dave to duck under the glass as a shadow passed over it.  From the duffle bag slung over his shoulder, Dirk withdrew a small red canister.  Clicking the top, he kicked in the door and tossed the device into the hallway, rushing past the opening and grabbing Dave, pulling the bewildered blond down more stairs as a loud bang and bright flash lit up from the doorway.

After several minutes of stumbling down stairs and the sounds of pursuers hot on their trail, the two men entered the darkened parking garage.  Ripping a fire extinguisher from the wall and jamming it into the door handle, Dirk practically pulled Dave to a line of private parking bays.  As Dirk yanked up the flimsy metal cover on one smaller bay, at sound of banging echoed through the concrete space.  Dave turned and fished the gun from his pocket, aiming it shakily in several directions, expecting some gun wielding figure to round every corner.

“Kid,” the voice came from behind him.

Dave turned as Dirk stomped on the ignition pedal for a sleek red motor cycle.  Dave quickly climbed on the back and barely had enough time to grab ahold of his brother before the man revved into gear and squealed the tires, tearing out of the enclosure and through the parking lot.  As they raced past the door to the stairs, the fire extinguisher burst out across the concrete in a spray of white foam as several figures pushed through the door, opening fire on the fleeing brothers. 

Tearing from the garage, Dirk recklessly whipped in and out of traffic as rain pounded down around them.  Dave was ready to relax when the sound of gunfire ran out amid the claps of thunder and honking horns.  Dirk wove in and out of cars, taking corners at break neck speeds and nearly whipping out several times.  Finally, he shouted over the din.

“In my bag.  Grenade.  Grab it.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Dave shouted back.

“JUST DO IT!”

As Dirk swerved around another car and buzzed through a red light, Dave moved one hand from the grip and wrapped it securely around his brother’s chest.  Dirk’s shirt was soaked, but the body underneath was emitting a powerful heat.  Dave’s heart skipped a beat as he felt a powerful yet steady thrumming under his palm and realized it was his brother’s heart, calm and cool.  A bullet whizzing past his head snapped Dave back to reality.  Reaching down to the saddle bag where his brother had stashed his duffle, Dave dug through the contents.  Many of the things felt weird and metallic, but his fingers quickly brushed across a textured surface and he paused.  Carefully he pulled the small device from the bag and around to him.  As he register exactly what he was holding, his heart raced. 

“Pull the pin and throw it!” Dirk yelled over the roar of rain, engine, and bullets.

“We’re on a city street!” Dave protested.

“Do it or we die!” Dirk snapped, jerking the bike down a new street as a black SUV raced towards them firing wildly.

Dave hesitated until a searing pain tore through his shoulder as a bullet grazed across the top and side, missing his neck by an inch.  As blood raced down his back, Dave gripped his brother’s chest more tightly, his free hand pulling the pin and tossing the device behind him.  He couldn’t look behind him, only burry his face into Dirk’s back as a wave of sound and light split behind them, praying to some unknown God for forgiveness.  Wrapping his other hand tightly around Dirk’s chest, Dave felt the heavy rain mix with the blood creeping down his back and side, and with the tears that unexpectedly sprung to his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Dirk pulled the bandage tightly around Dave’s shoulder; bloodied cotton swabs littered the floor next to Dave’s shirt.  The two men didn’t speak, only the television droning on mixed with the distant rumble of thunder and the hum of the air conditioning unit broke the tense silence.  The red haired news caster was reporting on a scene of devastation where police were informing the mass populace of a freak gas build up that resulted in an explosion killing at least six and injuring dozens of other.  Dave watched the devastation numbly.  He could still feel the cold, ribbed metal in his fingers.

Following the release of the grenade, Dave had clung to his brother’s back tightly.  The pain in his shoulder was throbbing but not unbearable, the rain cold but soothing after the hot day and adrenaline pumping action.  He just couldn’t understand what was happening and it was going by so fast that he doubted any of it was real.  He had hoped to wake up, the pain in his shoulder from where he was just sleeping wrong and the gunfire only passing thunder.  But that never happened.  They rode for hours, the bike whipping along highways and back roads, civilization slowly disappearing behind them as the cities turned to towns, the towns to villages, and the gaps between them became longer.  The rain had stopped and the horizon was starting to brighten when the two men finally pulled into a small town and up to a roadside motel. 

Dave had kept to the shadows lest his wound alarm the desk clerk, a frail old woman with a soft smile, while Dirk flashed a smile and paid in crisp green dollar bills.  The room itself was small with one larger bed, a television, and a bathroom.  Dirk drug the bike into the room with them, pushing it up along the cramped wall, between the bed, before stalking off to the bathroom.  He’d ordered Dave to remove his shirt and had gone about cleaning the wound as the young man watched the news.  His brain was sluggishly processing the information when Dirk stood with a grunt.

“I’ll be back,” he popped the kick stand on the bike, wheeling it towards the door, “Stay put.”

“Wait a minute,” Dave started but was cut off by a low growl from his brother.

“I said, stay put!” And just like that dirk was gone, out the door and away with a fading rumble of the motorcycle.

Dave let out a frustrated sigh before flopping back onto the bed, hissing and rolling over as he stupidly smacked his injury against the mattress.  As he waited for the throbbing to stop, he watched the television play the scenes of devastation over again.  No where did they say anything about gun shots or grenades or a man who had been tossed off a building.  He just couldn’t even begin to grasp at what it all meant.  Suddenly sick of it all, he clicked off the television and crawled up the bed, careful of his tender shoulder.  Flopping his good arm across his eyes, Dave let out a heavy breath.  Almost immediately images began playing across his mind of the grenade blast, the shadowy man in his living room, Dirk with a silenced pistol, climbing the roof, pulling that man off and watching him tumble down to certain death.  That particular scene played out again and again till Dave sat up and frantically reached for his bag.  He had to find something to do.

Pulling out his laptop, the blond felt relief flood across him as the screen glowed to life.  A gold and blue banner explaining he’d been disconnected from League flashed at him as well as a window with text from John.

EB: dave?

EB: dave you there man?

EB: earth to dave, we’re getting our asses handed to us

EB: oh you’ve d/c-ed

EB: maybe that storm knocked out your power

EB: message me when you get this

Dave smirked and typed in the window to respond.  But when he clicked to send the message off his cursor swirled teal before flashing back that he had no connection.  Sweeping his eyes to the lower right hand of the screen, the blond cursed as he saw there was indeed no connection.  Clicking on the stacked towers, he was even more devastated to discover no usable signal.  What kind of cheap motel was this?!  Didn’t everyone have free wifi anymore?  Dave reached for his bag once more and pulled out his phone.  It was dead.  He swore again, but remembered he had packed his charger.  Scrambling, Dave found a free wall socket and jammed his charger and laptop cord into the free spaces, clicking the cables to their appropriate devices.  With a little luck, he could turn his cell phone into a wifi hub, not enough signal to play league perhaps but enough to contact John.  As his phone vibrated to life Dave’s excitement was quickly dashed as no signal could be found.  With a huff he ripped the cord from the wall and flung his phone back into his bag. 

Clicking through his laptop, he first opened the games folder.  A good old game of solitaire was all he needed to numb his mind for some sleep.  Settling back, the blond clicked around the cards on the screen as his free hand idly traced patterns on his stomach.  After clicking through a few rounds, Dave could feel the tension in his back and neck begin to fade, and where his fingers traced across his skin there was a warm tingle in contrast to the artificially cooled air that swam around him.  Confident that he’d hear the rumble of the motor cycle engine when his brother returned, Dave let his hand shift down his smooth, hot skin and under his khaki shorts, his fingers brushing down his coarse blond hairs and brushing up against his limp member.  What better way to totally numb your brain than with porn?

Minimizing the solitaire game screen, just in case he needed to pull it up quickly for an alibi, Dave clicked open an obvious folder and flipped through the countless videos, double clicking on a random one.  The sound of the bleach blond woman moaning as a rather large dick pumped in and out of her startled Dave and he quickly turned down the volume, checking around sheepishly even though he knew no one was in the room.  Returning his attention to the screen, the young man bit his lip as he watched his screen flicker long blonde tresses and perky pink nipples, overly painted red lips and blue shadowed eyes closed in mock passion, delicate fingers gripping sheets and milky skin developing a flushed glow.  It was when the camera zoomed back, though, that Dave’s cock jumped to life. 

The man had broad, strong shoulders that splayed out into thick arms and a tensed back.  Sweat glistened down his chest and across rock hard abs.  The hunk’s hips flexed as he drove in and out of the woman craned over the bed, his finely trimmed pubic hair a toasted-marshmallow-gold in color and soft.  Dave wanted to touch them, to feel them with his fingers, to feel the heat and revel in it.  Then there was the man’s face, jaw set firm as he tossed his head back, his dirty blond hair short and spikey, his eyes a ruddy brown.  Dave let out a low grumbled moan.  He knew this male model.  With a clamp in his chest, he exited out the clip and quickly fumbled through the pathways to his smaller collection of videos. Double clicking almost frantically on one labeled Dk101, Dave let out a contented sigh as a solo video of the same model popped up onto the screen. 

This time it was the man’s own hand stroking up and down on his throbbing tool, and he looked directly at the camera, his lips working and plumb and he sighed hungrily.  Dave’s cock became intolerably hard and he had to quickly free it from his shorts.  Dave mimicked the action of the model and pumped up and down on his dick furiously.  The model moaned a subdued plea for release and Dave’s hips bucked, his chest tightening slightly as words formed in his mouth, words he was afraid to utter but couldn’t resist.

“Oh, Dirk!”

The twinge of guilt and shame flashed across his mind.  He liked this model.  He liked this model a lot.  But it wasn’t just his physique, his eyes, his voice, though all were exceptionally manicured and seductive.  No.  It was because it reminded Dave of his brother.  The same reason this model was in five of the six videos Dave had hidden away in this file.  In fact, only three models appeared in the six videos stashed away.  This one reminded him so truly of Dirk.  There was another blond who he fancied looked somewhat similar to himself.  The third was a well built and young brunet.  A stark contrast to the other two blond men.  Shorter and thicker yet still cut and with smoldering blue eyes.  Though this model’s hair was lighter, there was no mistaking his place as the body double of and equally crystalline eyed hottie.  A dark haired boy with a sapphire gaze and a broad grin.  John.

Even his innocuous titles gave away to his own mind who was in each video.  Dk101.  Dirk one on one.  DDJ001.  Dirk Dave John. Jn101.  John one on one. DD001.  Dirk Dave.  DD002.  Dirk Dave, again.  DvJ001.  Dave John.  DkJ001.  Dirk John.  This was as close as he got to admitting who he was attracted to, who each man reminded him of enough to make his cock pulse in anticipation.  Dave pushed aside the feeling of guilt, shoving it with the rest of his confused emotions about the past 24 hours as his hand beat furiously towards a messy release.  Suddenly, there was a beating on the door.

“Shit!” Dave slammed his laptop closed and stuffed himself back into his pants, “Just a sec!”

Jumping up, Dave tripped across the room, cursing wildly and trying to get his dick to stop pressing out the front of his shorts.  Pressing his eye to the peep hole, Dave recognized the little old woman from the front desk and sighed.  Pulling open the door, Dave was careful to hide his injury and slowly fading erection behind the wood.

“Yes, ma’am?” the blond attempted his best manners given the situation, even flashing a smile.

“I’m so sorry,” Dave barely had time to register how scared she looked, the tears brimming in her eyes, the shake in her hands before she was tossed aside and man whirled around the door frame.

Dave would have remembered his training, would have ducked and dove out of the way, would have escaped if his assailant hadn’t surprised him, kicking in the door swiftly.  Dave’s attempted to hide his injury and tented shorts was his undoing, at the flying door caught him straight across the chest and sent him sprawling back into the room.  Just as the young man tried to recover, a heavy black boot came down hard on his chest, painfully pinning him in place.  Dave looked up in shock.  The man standing over him was dressed in all black, a business suit, with short cropped black hair and dark sunglasses.  He barked a rough order down the barrel of a silenced pistol.

“Where is he?!”

Dave was struck dumb, confusion painting his face.  The man’s hand shifted on the gun and as he had done the night before, Dave closed his eyes and prepared for death.  The rumble of a motor in the distance tore his eyes back open in relief and fear.  The man over him smirked grimly before hauling Dave roughly to his feet, wrapping his left arm firmly around the blond’s chest and pushed the barrel of his pistol hard into Dave’s temple.  Guiding him towards the door, the man pulled them both out into the hot night air just as the shining headlight of Dirk’s motorcycle cascaded across the front of the building.  Dirk cut the engine, jumping from the bike and pulling a gun immediately, pointing it at the man who held his little brother captive.

“Ah ah ah!” The man called back, tightening his grip on Dave and pushed the gun harder against his temple, “Drop it.”

“Let the kid go,” Dirk’s voice was even as he sighted down the barrel, cautiously taking a step forward.

“I said, drop the gun!” Dave’s breath caught as the grip around his chest moved to his neck, his hands flying up instinctively to pull against the aggressor.

“Alright,” Dirk took a step back, raising his pistol in a sign of surrender, “Alright.”

“Dirk?” Dave croaked, his mouth and throat dry.

The older blond slowly knelt, hands still held in surrender, before depositing the pistol onto the ground, “Let the kid go.”

“Step away from the gun,” The man ordered, his pressure relaxing a bit on Dave’s throat though the pistol barrel still pressed painfully into his temple.

Dave’s mind was racing.  He was in mortal danger.  This man wanted his brother and had no qualms threatening Dave to do it.  Suddenly Dave remembered the gun his had stashed away in his cargo pocket.  If he was slow and crafty, he might be able to get at it.  Slowly he removed one hand from the man’s arm, gently easing it down his body.  But as Dirk took a slow step back from his relinquished weapon, he seemed to catch on to what Dave was trying a slightly, but firmly shook his head ‘No’.  Dave felt helpless.

“Now,” The man seemed to relax more behind Dave, “We’re gonna go inside, nice and quiet.  You’re gonna put on some handcuffs and we’re gonna wait for some back up.  Do this and the kid lives.”

Dirk’s lips set firm in an expression that Dave had never seen before, almost as if he was angry yet resigned to defeat.  He only had a moment to register the look before it changed.  Dirk cocked his head to the side slightly, then smiled, before laughing outright.

“What’s so fun-,” the man was cut off and Dave was launched forward, sputtering into the dirt.

As Dirk retrieved his weapon, he passed by Dave who was quickly picking himself up from the ground, pointing his pistol at the prone figure groaning in the dirt.  Behind him stood the older woman from the front desk, he face gaunt and eyes glistening, a baseball bat held limply in her hands.  Dirk quickly relieved the fallen man of his weapon and sat hard on his back, retrieving a pair of handcuffs from the man’s belt and cuffing his hands behind his back.

“Ma’am,” Dirk addressed the woman as he hauled the quickly recovering man to his feet, “I’d suggest you leave.  Immediately.”

The woman nodded and quickly fled, abandoning the bat and running off into the darkness.  Dirk hustled the now struggling man into the hotel room as he called back to Dave.

“Grab his gun and bring the bike.”

Dave scrambled to retrieve the weapon and ran to the motorcycle, kicking up the stand and wheeling it into the open door.  Dirk was pushing the growling man into the bathroom as Dave wedged the bike along the wall.  A few snippets of what the man was saying reached Dave’s ears.

“…we’ll find you no matter where you go.  Sedition.  Treason!  Oh you’ll fry for sure agen-,” the man was cut off by a dull thud.

“That’s enough outta you,” Dirk grumbled.

Dave peeked around the corner, almost expecting to see a bloody pool oozing over the white tiles.  He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his brother hefting the man into the tub, unconscious but very much alive, the only blood coming from a quickly darkening bruise on his forehead.  Rushing in to help his brother, the two men hefted the body into the bathtub before Dirk whipped out of the room.

“Grab you’re shit, we gotta go,” he called from the other room.

Dave’s mind raced as he looked down at the unconscious man.  Without thinking he reached down, fishing in the man’s coat pockets.  Withdrawing a small leather bound wallet, Dave carefully flipped it open.  Large blue and gold letter shined up at him.  CIA US Special Agent 1025. 

“Dave,” Dirked called and the blond scrambled, shoving the wallet into his pocket.

As he exited the bathroom, a wad of red cloth flew at him.  Dave caught it easily, the feel of the fabric telling him it was a new shirt.  Carefully pulling it on over his head, avoiding his shoulder, he crossed the room, quickly gathering up his laptop and pushing it into his bag.  Dave stopped to pass a look of confusion over his brother who stood waiting by the door, before turning to look at the bike still wedged against the wall, its saddle bags open and empty.

“Too conspicuous,” Dirk shrugged, “Now move it.”

Dave hustled after his brother, a string of questions hot on his lips but no time to ask them.  Ducking around the building, Dirk signaled Dave to follow close as he slid along a line of parked cars, picking an older model pick-up truck.  With a soft clank, Dirk jimmied the door open, sliding in and unlocking the opposite door for Dave.  The younger blond hesitated as his older brother searched the cab quickly before prying open a side panel and pulling out a tangle of wires, everything seemed so surreal.  As Dave slowly climbed in, Dirk withdrew a pocket knife and sliced two of the cabled, brushing them together with a shower of sparks as the engine roared to life.  Jumping in and slamming the door shut, Dirk quickly pulled out and sped down the dark country roads.

After a few moments, Dave finally found his voice, “Dirk, what the hell…”

“Get some sleep,” the older man cut him off.

“What?” Dave growled in frustration, “No, Dirk, you’ve gotta…”

“You’ll need it,” Dirk cut him off again.

“Why?!” Dave sighed, but when it was obvious he wasn’t going to get an answer, he huffed, shuffling in his seat till he was looking out the window.

The sky was a dismal gray as more clouds rolled in and rain began to splatter the windshield.  Dave watched as miles of nothingness passed by his window, his eyes becoming increasingly heavier till he slowly closed them.  With his back turned he never noticed the fleeting, dejected glances Dirk turned towards him as they drove.


	4. Chapter 4

Dave was dreaming.  He had to be dreaming.  He was sitting in his bedroom, flopped out onto his stomach as his computer flickered through images on the web.  Suddenly John’s face popped up on the screen.  Dave was lazily aware that there was no chat window, no ping of Skype or AIM or any other messenger, just John’s face appearing on the screen like it was a window.  He never spoke but Dave understood everything the boy was thinking, like a telepathic connection.  He wanted the blond to watch him, and Dave was more than willing to oblige.

John slowly walked back from the screen till Dave could see him clearly, his movie posters like wallpaper, his bed big and unmade.  Slowly, John swayed his hips to inaudible music, his eyes fluttering closed as his teeth scrapped across his bottom lip.  When John’s eye reopened, Dave swore they were even brighter blue than before.  John’s long fingers traced down his plain black t-shirt, curling at the hem and pulling it up, exposing soft tanned skin and a trail of dark hairs that clashed down into a pair of blue jeans.  Dave felt his erection pressing into the bed under him.

Suddenly the computer disappeared and John was in his room, his shirt completely gone.  Dave slowly rolled onto his side as the other boy sauntered around the bed, his strip tease slowly continuing.  When John’s unsnapped the button to his pants, Dave let out a long, low sigh and licked his lips.  Slowly, John’s climbed onto the bed, the blond could feel the depression of his weight as John eased his hips closer.  Dave’s hand shook as he reached out and grabbed the other boy’s hips, pulling him closer, basking in the warmth and the cologne that poured from this Adonis. 

Dave licked his lips again, imagining what lay just inches from his face, covered by a few precious layers of fabric.  Unable to stand it any longer, the blond reached to remove the fabric.  A sudden jolt rocked Dave and he shot up.  The vision of his room, his bed, and a half naked John disappeared utterly to be replaced by hot, dry flat lands and a looming town ahead. 

“Bro,” Dave’s voice was groggy as he stretched, “Where are we?”

“Breckenridge,” Dave had heard of the town, but it was hours away from where they had started.

Dave checked the clock on the dash, it was getting on after noon.  He sighed and readjusted in the seat.  He had the most annoying boner and he was trying to be cool about hiding it.  The man in the seat next to him suppressed a laugh.

“What?” Dave looked at his brother incredulously.

“Nothin’,” Dirk snorted, “ _Little_ man.”

The emphasis on the name made blood rush to Dave’s cheeks and he stared hard out the window, willing his body to conform.  Not that the older man’s teasing hadn’t helped at all.  An ember sparked within the young blond.  Maybe it was the jeering, or the fact that he hadn’t slept well, or all the close calls with death in the past 36 hours, but Dave began to grow angry and resentful to the one person he knew within a couple hundred miles. 

As they pulled into town, Dirk steered them towards a blue and gold sign that read Regency Inn.  It was a little one level motel, something lost out of the 60’s, but it looked clean and quiet.  Stretching as he piled out of the truck, Dave begrudgingly followed his brother inside.  The lobby wasn’t very large, just a small loveseat and a desk with a smiling clerk behind it, the scene surrounded by clean white walls. 

“Welcome to the Regency Inn,” the pretty, dark haired girl behind the counter drawled, “How may I help you?”

“Hey darlin’,” Dirk laid on a charm Dave had seen him use on pretty girls before, mostly meant to swoon them into packing in the perks, “Me and the _little_ man need a room.”

Dave cringed at the repeat of the nick name and gritted his teeth.  The girl shot him a flirtatious wink which just seemed to rub salt into the wound.  Paying cash, Dirk accepted the room key with thickly layered charm and an ‘accidental’ brush against her hand.  Dave’s embarrassment was replaced with a pang of jealousy, and he tried to quickly bury his secret thoughts and desires.  With his hands shoved into his pockets and his head down, Dave drug his feet behind his brother as they walked down the wall of outside doors, stopping at their assigned room.

The room was clean but cramped, with one large bed.  Dirk tossed his duffle on the floor and headed off to the bathroom before Dave could take advantage of their solitude.  The blond growled in frustration as he quickly heard the water hiss through the door.  Digging into his pocket for his cell phone, his fingers brushed against cold metal.  He stopped, his fingers tracing the long, smooth barrel before finding the grip and wrapping tightly around it.  Slowly, Dave removed the gun from his pocket and inspected it.  He’d never held a gun before, his brother had always trained him in hand to hand combat.  But the men who had come into their home had wielded them, one had even been pressed to his temple.  Dave was disgusted by the device.  It required no skill, not test of strength and training, just point and click.  Setting it down onto the cheap wooden desk, Dave pulled out the felt padded chair and sat in it, his eyes on the firearm but his mind combing back over everything that had happened.

Dave barely registered when the water shut off in the bathroom.  It wasn’t until his brother entered the room that he looked up.  Dirk was still damp, a towel hanging loosely around his bare shoulders, jeans slung low on his hips, stomach hard with the slightest hint at dark blond hairs training down his navel.  Dave’s mind flashed to the porn star, the one in some of his favorite videos.  He shook it off as the older man sauntered across the room, flopping onto the bed, and flicking on the television.  Dave couldn’t take the nonchalance any more.

“Bro?” Dave’s mouth went a little dry and he swallowed.

“Hm,” Dirk grunted.

“What are we doing?”

“Hiding out,” the short response wasn’t what Dave wanted.

“Why were those men after us?” he pushed.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Rage, unadulterated and uncheck flooded Dave, “What the fuck do you mean don’t worry about it?!  God damn it, Dirk, I have been shot at, forced to climb a building, had a gun put to my head, lobbed a grenade, and I don’t fucking know why.  I’ve killed, Dirk.  I’ve taken another fucking human life and I fucking don’t know why the fuck why!  Don’t you fucking tell me it’s none of my fucking business or not to fucking worry about it because fuck you I deserve to know!”

“Whoa, calm down there, little man.”

The was not what Dave needed to hear.  Quicker than he could realize it, Dave had his hand on the gun.  The metal was cool in his hand, steady and well balanced.  Almost like his sword, it suddenly felt like an extension of himself.  Dirk looked up too late before Dave was on top of him, pinning his torso to the bed, the gun pressed to the older man’s forehead as the young blond screamed.

“Little man?  Little man?!  You wanna see how fucking little I am?!” Dave was burning up, his skin red hot and searing as he pressed the gun barrel into his brothers head, “Go on, take a look.”

Dirk looked directly into Dave’s eyes, amber into ember, his gaze steady before slowly drifting down Dave’s torso to the piled fabric where his shirt pooled onto his thighs, the khaki shorts pulled up around the older man’s naked torso.  Dirk’s eye shot back up and Dave saw something flash.  Fear?  Good.

“I said take a look,” Dave growled through his teeth as he pressed the metal harder against the other man’s head.

Dirk looked away for a second, then turned his gaze down to where the boy sat on him.  Dave prepared to defend himself, expecting a struggle, but Dirk moved slowly, cautiously raising his hands up to Dave’s knees.  Dave was shaking, the stress and the tension feeding his anger, the power and his proximity to Dirk fueling his dark sexual fantasies.  Dirk slowly raised Dave’s shirt up, the younger blond sitting up slightly as the older moved hesitantly to undo the button on the shorts.  With a quick press of the gun, Dave emphasized his threat. 

“Do it.”

Dirk swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing slightly.  Then, with shaky fingers, the older man touched the waist of Dave’s shorts, brushing slightly against the young blonde’s stomach.   Lighting shot through the boy at the point of contact and pumped straight into his lower belly, his cock springing to life in his shorts.  The fabric was tight for a moment, then loosened as Dirk undid the button and slowly slid down the zipper of Dave’s shorts.  It was Dave’s turn to swallow, taking a deep breath to ensure his voice would be steady and commanding.

“Keep going.”

Dirk didn’t peel his eyes away from what his fingers were doing.  Slowly lifting Dave’s shirt up, Dirk let his fingers slide across the younger man’s stomach before coming back down to the elastic of his boxers.  Warm fingers curled around the stretchy fabric before slowly pulling them down, revealing a wiry trail of blond hairs before Dave’s cock sprung from its confines, hard and leaking at the tip. Dirk licked his lips, his pink tongue darting out across dry chapped skin.  Dave scoffed.

“Not so little, am I?” Dirk shook his head, “Now, suck it.”

Orange eyes shot up to red, but Dave didn’t waiver, didn’t flinch, just kept the gun pressed to his brother’s head.  Dirk swallowed again and licked his lips, hesitating as Dave shuffled up his brother’s torso; his throbbing dick now only inches from the older man’s face.  Dirk took in a deep breath, his fingers slowly tracing up Dave’s thigh so not as to alarm him, before wrapping warm fingers around Dave’s cock.  The boy nearly moaned at the touch.  He felt a pang of guilt and shame, but they were quickly smote by the electricity shooting through his arousal.  Shifting his head, Dirk gave one last furtive glance up to Dave before opening his mouth and allowing the head in, closing his chapped lips around it and giving a swirl of his tongue across the tip.  Dave nearly squeezed the trigger as his hips arched, shoving most of his cock into his brother’s unsuspecting mouth.  The older man sputtered and gagged but didn’t pull away, the gun still against his head.

Dave’s breath became labored as his brother slowly bobbed up and down his shaft, his hands steadying the younger blonde’s hips.  Dave wasn’t ready to be over, however.  This fantasy was just beginning and there was plenty more he was going to accomplish if he could.  With his free hand, Dave reached behind him, his hand landing almost instantly on his prize.  Squeezing the bulge he found in his brother’s jean, Dave relished the sensation as Dirk moaned around the dick in his mouth.  Carefully dismounting his brother, Dave panted.

“Take your jeans off.”

Dirk silently and slowly obeyed, Dave keeping the gun trained on his brother lest he try to make a sudden move.  When he saw the fabric fly to the floor, Dave chanced a glance down his brother’s body.  The man was glowing, his toned body perfectly sculpted and his dark blonde hairs crowding around a large pale member standing at full attention, dripping with a clear liquid.  Dave motioned with the firearm for Dirk to continue sucking his dick and, once the older blond was back to that, he reached down with his free hand and stroked his brother’s cock making the older man moan around the cock in his mouth and buck his hips. 

Reluctantly, Dave finally pulled away, standing long enough to kick off his khaki shorts, not daring to take his shirt off lest his brother take the opportunity to disarm him.  Repositioning himself further down the bed, Dave knelt between his brother’s thighs and spit into his free hand.  Dirk’s eyes grew wide as Dave quickly reached down between the older man’s thighs and pressed his fingers against the warm, clenching muscle he found there.

“Open up,” Dave commanded, the gun still aimed at Dirk’s head.

The older man nodded, reaching down and pulling on his ass cheeks, spreading them apart as he raised his legs up a bit.  Lobbing more spit into his hand, Dave quickly slicked up his own cock before pressing against his brother’s entrance.   Dirk gave a pained groaned and clenched his eyes shut as Dave pushed relentlessly.  When the muscle finally gave way, Dirk gasped and Dave moaned as the head of his dick slid into the older blond.  Dave didn’t wait very long before pushing further into his brother, the tightness he found there excruciatingly pleasurable.  Pulling back out, Dave relished in the hiss that escaped his brother’s lips as his barely lubed shaft slid out half way before the younger blond forced it back in.  Dave’s pace quickly increased, the heat building in his abdomen and a familiar tightness in his chest.  Slouching forward, gun forgotten, Dave pressed his head against his brother’s, their lips meeting in a fevered kiss as Dave’s hips made shallow thrusts, bringing him to a quick climax. 

As the orgasm quickly faded, Dave pulled back, pulling out of his brother.  Looking down at the sweating, flushed man beneath him, Dave realized Dirk’s eyes were still trained on him.  Remembering the gun in his hand, Dave suddenly flung it away as he turned his back on his brother, slouching over the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees and his hands running through his hair.  Dave registered Dirk moving on the bed, but didn’t care to look up.  He felt disgusting.  He felt ashamed.  He felt like dying.

“I’m a freak,” the young blond whispered.

“Runs in the family,” Dirk’s tone was resigned, not angry.

Dave looked up as his brother slowly walked to the place where the gun had fallen, the older man bending to pick up the firearm before returning it to the desk, “Next time, turn the safety off.”

Dave looked up.  Dirk stood before him, naked and flushed from sex, his orange eyes even and looking at him in a way Dave had never seen, respectfully.  As the older man walked slowly towards his younger brother, Dave lowered his head but his chin was caught by strong fingers and pulled up so his ember eyes met amber ones.

“Let’s clean up, and then I’ll tell you what’s going on,” Dirk smiled sadly, “Little man.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I've been super busy lately >.

The water hissed and steamed, stinging Dave’s shoulders and back with painfully pleasant heat.  He watched through the mist as water droplets flowed down damp blond clumps that hung in front of his eyes, now the color of straw with the water.  His eyes watched intently as the drops splashed onto his chest and joined the rivulets of liquid from his shoulders to flow down his body till they emptied into the tub and drained away to oblivion.  He was a little surprised to hear the curtain rustle behind him, but he didn’t flinch as Dirk’s warm hands wrapped around his chest and stomach, the bigger man blocking the water from scalding the younger’s back.

“We’re being hunted,” Dirk’s voice was low and soft and very close to Dave’s ear, “I’m an agent for the CIA in conjunction with the NRO, Division Zero.  In English, I’m a spy.  All those times I go away for long trips?  I’ve been stationed in Russia, China, Libya, North Korea, Egypt, just to name a few.  I specialize in robotics and reconnaissance.  From what I’ve gathered, some other agents were compromised and several were killed.  Good agents.  And all signs pointed back to me.  They’re going to keep coming after me until they either kill or capture me.  Anyone with me will be seen as a target as well.”

Dave was silent for several minutes, before mumbling a question, “Did you do it?  Turn rogue?”

“No,” Dirk’s voice was harsh, but his thumbs caressing Dave’s skin told the younger man that the tone wasn’t for him, “Never.  And that’s what I need to prove.  If I can prove it.”

Dirk buried his face into Dave’s neck, an unusually tender gesture.  Not that the whole situation wasn’t unusual, but Dave felt the flutters deep inside.  He’d felt guilt for so long, shame at wanting this intimacy with this very man. Now that he was receiving it freely it felt like chains breaking in his chest and he could truly breathe for the first time.  Dirk’s fingers traced around Dave’s torso and stomach as if memorizing every inch of flesh.  The younger blond knew his brother was holding something back, some other dark secrets that he wasn’t quite ready to reveal. 

“I’m leaving in the morning,” the older man’s voice seemed sad and tentative, a quality that broke Dave’s heart more than the words, “I won’t ask you to come with me.  And I won’t accept an answer from you till the morning.  I can’t guarantee your safety.  There is the real possibility of death.  If they can get ahold of you while you’re with me, they’ll use you against me.  They’ll kill you if you get in the way, assume you were in with me.  If you stay here, I’ll give you what you need to start over.  Money, a new identity, everything it would take to be on your own.”

“On my own,” Dave echoed the words in a whisper as the arms around him tightened slightly and Dirk pressed soft lips to his neck, “And till the morning?”

“Whatever you’d like.”

The huskiness of Dirk’s voice combined with the closeness to his skin sent lightning bolts of fire from every nerve ending in his body straight towards his belly and nestled there.  With a quick turn, Dave thrust himself against his brother, lips eagerly flying to meet his.  There was passion, there was an over whelming sense of unbridled lust, and there was the hurried need to cover so much in so little time.  The next several hours were spent with bouts of hot and wild sex, tender moments, and soft confessions. 

When Dave admitted to his feelings and how long he’d had them, Dirk didn’t act surprised.  Instead, the older blond admitted that he had always felt such things and had noticed the signs in young Dave.  The two kissed deeply and often, though Dave was most certain it was himself that kept pushing their lips together.  It took a lot of talking and a quick trip to the store for supplies before Dave finally convinced Dirk he could handle being fucked.  The young man almost had second thoughts as he watched his brother roll on the condom.  His cock was much thicker than Dave’s but a little shorter.  After some pushing and rubbing and soothing words, Dirk had slid his way into Dave who moaned first in pain, then in immense pleasure.

It was well into the night when the two collapsed, Dave sprawled over Dirk’s chest, the older man stroking the younger’s hair tenderly.  Dave’s mind lazily flipped through the recent past, the gun battles, the hours spent traipsing across Texas, the man naked beneath him.  In a sick sort of way, he had enjoyed it all, but he wasn’t sure he could continue on like this.  Then again, he wasn’t ready to abandon his brother entirely.  Striders stuck together, no matter what.  Maybe it was the constant heartbeat under his ear, or the rhythmic rising and falling of the chest under him, or the soft patterns Dirk’s fingers played through his hair, but Dave didn’t exactly remember falling asleep. 

When he awoke, it was just turning light outside.  Dirk was behind him.  They had moved into a spooning position over night, and the older man had his arms wrapped around him.  Dave could tell by Dirk’s breathing that the older man was awake, just laying very still.  They didn’t move, didn’t speak, only laid there for a long while, Dave enjoying the feeling of the warm, strong arms around him and weighing the heavy decision that lay before him.

“I have to go,” Dirk’s voice was a whisper, not wanting to break the spell.

“I know,” Dave clung to the arms around him like he was holding on for dear life.

They remained unmoving for several tense seconds before Dave swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry as the words scraped painfully out of his throat, the air thick with their weight, “And I’m going with you.”

Dirk didn’t plead, didn’t reprimand, didn’t do all the things Dave had prepared himself for to stop him from going with his brother.  Instead, the older blond just tightened his grip and pressed a fevered kiss to Dave’s neck before releasing the boy and moving out of the bed.  Dave admired his brother as the man stood naked against the dimly lit room.  The sunlight that seeped in seemed to make Dirk’s skin glow, his hair like a halo when it caught the rays that splashed in.  His muscles worked under his skin as he walked about gathering up his duffle bag and pulling on fresh underwear and black jeans.

“Get ready to move out,” Dirk shrugged on a white polo and slid a black ball cap onto his head, “I’ll go check us out.”

As the door closed on the room, Dave leapt out of bed.  Tossing on his shorts and shirt, his pulse quickened with excitement mixed with a healthy dose of fear.  When his phone clattered out of his pocket, Dave scrambled to pick it up, deciding quickly to turn it on and see if he had any signal.  As the screen flashed to life, he quirked a smile as the bars filled up and then a barrage of messages lit up his screen, most from John.

_hey man where are you?  everything ok?  you havent been on_

_dave? im getting worried man_

_dad came home and is taking me on a surprise camping trip_

_if you get this text me so i know youre alive_

_ok scratch that CALL ME_

_i hope youre ok_

Dave slid his finger across the phone and lit up a small keyboard, quickly typing a response and sending it.

_alive. will explain later._

Another message flashed in his inbox and he sighed inwardly.

_Our mutual friend John has informed me that you are missing in action, please contact him immediately so that he will stop bugging me, it’s very complicated to knit when you are being interrupted ever four seconds._

He chose not to answer her knowing it would lead to a lengthy text battle of wits and dry sarcasm, and frankly Dave didn’t have the time to trifle with Rose.  He had bigger fish to fry.  Much bigger.  As he shoved his phone back into his pocket, Dirk returned.

“Let’s go, kid.”

The two brother’s piled into the truck and pulled quietly out of the parking lot.  They only went a few blocks before Dirk pulled over in front of a shop.  A quick glance at the store front told Dave why they were there.  The windows were packed with guns and ammo, displayed behind unusually thick glass and metal bars.  Dirk shoved something at Dave and the teen looked down to find a shiny pair of aviators staring back up at him along with a sleek black leather rectangle.  Curious, Dave opened the folded leather to find a glimmering brass badge staring back at him, a large eagle with wings spread across the top and the letters CIA emblazoned in blue underneath.  There was also an agent number pounded into the metal.

“Four thirteen?” Dave turned questioningly to his brother who had already slid on a matching pair of shades.

“Division Zero code for New Agent,” Dirk explained dryly, “You have to earn a code name.”

“Code name?” Dave scoffed as he folded the leather flap back closed and slid the glasses onto his face, shielding his eyes from the morning sun, “What’s yours?”

“B.R.O.” Dirk shrugged and stepped out of the truck.

Dave let out a strong laugh of disbelief but quickly followed behind his brother.  The bell rang as they entered the dingy little shop and Dave crinkled his nose as the musty smell of stale sulfur and old paper. A man in his late forties stepped out from a back room warily and eyed the two new comers with suspicion.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” The man’s accent was thick.

“C.I.A.” Dirk flashed his badge, holding it open long enough for the shop owner to verify it was real and his eyes to dilate, a sign Dave had been taught to recognize as fear and sudden awareness. 

“How can I help you, sir?” His voice was strained, a sign of nervousness.

“What’s your name, sir?” Dirk’s voice was authoritative yet relaxed, yet his body was rigid and unyielding and Dave tried to mimic the posture, though the effect was lost in his shorts and t-shirt.

“Tim.”

“Well, Tim, I’m going to be honest with you.  We’re on our way to the boarder for some drug trafficking sting operations and the rookie here left our ammo behind.”

Dave rolled his eyes, but fortunately the shade hid them as the shop owner trained his eyes on the young blonde for a moment before snapping them back to Dirk, “I-if you have the proper license, I can…”

“License and cash,” Dirk cut him off, producing a piece of legal looking paper and a wad of green bills, “This needs to be off the record, mind you.  Under cover.”

“I-I don’t know that…” Tim began but Dirk cut him off.

“Look, Tim,” His demeanor was stone cold and intimidating and he had the owner clearly cowed, “I have a sting operation to set up in four hours to stop thousands of dollars of drugs from being smuggled into the country and if shit hits the fan, I need somethin’ to shoot.”

The shop owner considered the situation for another moment, then nodded solemnly.  Dirk did all the talking as he listed off the ammunition they would be needing, adding a few new artillery pieces to their arsenal as well as some body armor.  Laying a selection of large, crisp bills on the counter, Dirk made sure to noticeably throw in some extras with a nod to the man behind the counter.  Dave could tell the shop owner was relieved to see the money on his counter, and even more relieved that the two brothers were leaving. 

As they exited the shop, Dave pressed his brother, “Where are we going?”

“Salt Lake City.  There’s a safe house and I have a contact there.”

Piling back into the truck, Dirk pulled out of town as Dave inventoried their new armaments, putting them where the older man instructed him.  Most of it went in the duffle bag, but one of two side arms were stuffed under and behind seats in case of an incident.  Dave made sure to check each weapon and load it before stashing it away, mentally tallying bullet count and exact location of each piece.  If he wanted to survive he had to let his training take over and improvise what he didn’t know. 

Just as he stowed away the last of the morning’s purchase and was contemplating pulling out his phone to pass the time, Dirk swore from the driver’s seat, “Shit.”

“What?” Dave went rigid.

“We got a tail,” Dirk took on a relaxed posture, but his hand strayed to the firearm he’d laid on the seat.

Careful so as not to draw obvious attention, Dave positioned himself so he could see the cars behind them in his side mirror.  The road had been only sparsely populated with cars, so a large SUV with tinted windows and a government plate was clearly out of place.  Dave swallowed hard and licked his suddenly dry lips.

“What do we do?”

“Hold on tight,” Dirk gave Dave just enough time to click his seatbelt across his lap before slamming his foot on the gas and roaring off.

“How the fuck did they find us?!” Dave made no pretense of hiding his glances back.

“I don’t know,” Dirk swerved around a minivan and just missed an oncoming truck, screeching back into the proper lane.

Dave gripped the dash as his brother pulled a hard right, the cab pitching to one side and barely staying upright as they shot down a side access road.  It took the SUV little time to catch up.  Suddenly a figure appeared out of the side window and Dirk called out a warning.

“Get down!”

Dave ducked his head as a hale of bullets pinged and sparked off the car, one of them shattering the rear window and the windshield.  As the gunfire ceased briefly, Dirk and Dave knocked out the broken safety glass, sharp shards flying towards the pair and scratching them as the swept past.  Dave was glad of the shades, they protected his eyes from the glass and wind and dirty.  Dirk slunk down the seat as much as he could as he called out orders to Dave over the roaring wind and the renewed gun fire.

“I need you to take the wheel,” the older blond yelled.

“What?!”

“Do you have experience shooting out tires?” Dirk hollered, “If you want to stay alive do what I say!”

Dirk swerved down another patch of side road, “Alright, it’s a straight shot for a second.  Put your foot on the gas with mine!”

Dave did as he was instructed.

“Ok,” Dirk’s voice carried over the roar of the engine and the wind that blasted through the cabin, “On the count of three, I’m going to slide over top of you, you slide along the seat under me.  Here, grab the wheel with your right hand.  Ready?”

Dave nodded, though his stomach clenched with fear and excitement.

“One,” Dirk glanced into the mirrors, steadying the truck and picking up his left foot to brace against the seat, “Two…”

Dave swallowed and took a deep breath, “THREE!”

It worked like a graceful ballet.  Kicking off with his left foot, Dirk bent his back and flew towards the passenger side of the car, aching over Dave.  The younger blond slid across the seat, using his hand on the steering wheel to drag himself across.  The truck jerked a bit as the two brother’s landed in their new positions.  Dave quickly regained control of the car and punched the pedal to the floor, revving the engine and jerking the truck forward.  He watched as the speedometer climbed into triple digits.  Beside him, Dirk withdrew one of the guns they had purchased, an SW1911 if Dave had heard correctly.  The older blond lined up, his arms extended over the seat, gun barrel pointed just beyond the glass.

“Hold us steady,” he commanded and Dave gripped the wheel tightly.

There was a second of silence, then the pop of gun fire followed by the sound of screeching tires.  Dave checked the rear view mirror and saw the SUV careening off the road and into the scrub, sending dirt and debris flying in a brown cloud.  Not daring to slow down, Dave sailed down the road as Dirk turned back in his seat with a heavy sigh.

“I don’t know how they fucking keep finding us,” Dirk swore as he shove the pistol back into the duffle bag, “I tossed everything they could’ve had a track on.”

At that instant, Dave’s phone chimed in his pocket.  Dirk slowly turned and looked at his younger brother.  Dave quickly withdrew the device with a sheepish grin.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Dirk sighed, “We gotta ditch that thing!”

“Wait!” Dave held the device away from Dirk, “It’s got all my contacts and everything on it!  At least let me get my SD card out of it.”

“Dude, they’ll be sending another car after us any second,” Dirk snapped, “Fuck, maybe even a chopper!”

“Wait!” Dave held the phone out of reach again, “I saw on an episode of NCIS where they took the battery out of the phone and they couldn’t track it.”

“Yeah, but the second we turn it back on, they can.”

“That’ll give me time to get my information off of it,” an idea struck Dave and he quickly added, “And we can plant it somewhere when we turn it back on.”

Dirk put his hand out and Dave reluctantly handed over the phone.  But the older man didn’t smash it or throw it out the window like Dave feared.  Instead, he flipped the device over and, removing the plastic cover, pulled out the battery.  Dave smirked as he continued to drive, his foot easing up on the gas.

“Head towards Amarillo,” Dirk instructed, “We’re gonna have a change in route.”

Dave just nodded and wove his way back to the main road.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun was sagging in the sky as the brothers pulled into the Petro Stopping Center just inside the Amarillo city limits.  Dave climbed out of the raised seat and onto the pavement, stretching with a yawn before closing the black truck door.  Their shot up truck had managed to avoid attention for a few hours, but as they approached Lubbock, Dirk decided it would be better to ditch the truck and hitch hike the final few miles into town.  Dave had been nervous about jamming a duffle full of ammunition and firearms into a kindly looking older woman’s trunk, but the ride went by quickly and she dropped them off with a smile at Gene Messer Chevrolet, and the brother’s walked into the cooled building with a purpose. 

Dave began to question just how much money Dirk was carrying around when the man dropped cash for a brand new Chevy Avalanche, but decided it didn’t matter when he tossed the keys to Dave.  They had pulled into a little shopping center and stocked up on supplies.  Dave felt a sense of normalcy return as they packed their clothes into suitcases and food into coolers.  The only thing that took away from the regularity of it all was the weapons they stowed away.  The drive to Amarillo was blessedly uneventful, and when Dave spotted the semi laden Petro Stopping Center, he knew it was time to put their plan into action.

The two slipped into the station, Dave with a pretense of finding junk food, and Dirk with being overly chatty.  It didn’t take long to strike up a conversation with one of the lonely truckers.  Dave avoided contact, just keeping an eye out lest they should be surprised.  When Dirk and the trucker slipped into the restroom together, Dave quirked an eyebrow.  Following, Dave pressed his ear to the locked door.  The sounds that greeted him shot fire through his veins as the trucker moaned and instructed his brother just how he liked it. Rage and jealousy pumped through the young man’s veins, but the eroticism of it all didn’t escape his over hormone body and soon his own cock was pushing angrily at his jean, wishing to be free.  When he heard the other man groan his release, Dave quickly ducked away from the door.

The two exited and Dirk flashed a hidden smirk to Dave and signaled for him to follow.  Slipping out the door opposite his brother, Dave tailed the two men as they chatted on their way to a large red semi.  Stopping at the back of the trailer, Dave dared a peek around the side and found his brother talking with the trucker, keeping the man’s back to him.  Dave replaced the battery and hit the power on his phone.  Quickly removing his memory card, the blond whipped the phone’s data before withdrawing a small roll of electrical tape from his pocket.  With a few swift wrapped, the blond had bound his old phone to the bumped with a wistful sigh.  Glancing around the truck, he gave his brother a deciding nod and ducked away and back into the convenience store.   

Putting a Coke and some Doritos on the counter, Dave glowered as he watched the red semi pull away.  With his purchase in hand, Dave’s mood worsened as he returned to his vehicle.  Dirk was leaning against the side and gave him a nod as the younger blond unlocked the doors and climbed in.  Dave remained silent as he pulled out of the truck stop and hit the highway going a different direction than the semi.  As the sun set, leaving the sky purple and pink, Dirk finally broke the tense quiet.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Dave tried to conceal his hurt.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Dirk chuckled darkly.

“It’s stupid,” the young man tried to shake his feeling but he couldn’t, “I guess, I dunno, I got jealous back there?”

“What, of that trucker?” Dirk scoffed, “It achieved our goal and now we’re safe for the moment.”

“I know,” Dave sighed, “I told you it was stupid.  But I can’t help feeling this twinge of doubt.”

“You’re young,” the older man mused.

“Fuck you,” Dave growled.

The younger blond was about to say more when a warm hand pressed against his thigh and Dirk’s voice sounded close to his ear, “I can make it up to you.”

Dave swallowed, his body shaking slightly and his jealousy replaced with frightening anticipation, “H-how?”

Dirk slid down his seat, wedging himself between the console and dash and moved to Dave’s lap, quickly undoing the young man’s jeans and slipping his hand in to retrieve Dave’s quickly stiffening cock.  Dave groaned and pushed his head back into the seat as his brother quickly enveloped his member with a warm, wet mouth.  It took every ounce of his concentration to not veer off the road and to keep a decent speed.  Dirk was voracious as he licked and sucked and bobbed up and down Dave’s shaft.  The younger blond moaned and bucked his hips as much as he could while maintaining control of the vehicle.  Splitting his attention made the session last longer than their previous play times, though Dirk never ceased his attention and Dave didn’t mind one bit.  When orgasm finally did arrive, Dave nearly screamed his release, his legs going weak as Dirk pulled buck with a chuckle.

“Better pull over and let me drive for a bit.”

Dave nodded wordlessly and pulled to the side of the road.  As they swapped places, Dave lazily caught Dirk’s lips and fluttered a few lingering kisses his the swollen mouth.  Dave leaned his seat back and quickly fell asleep as the night closed in around them. 

It was well past midnight when Dirk nudged his brother awake, “Come on, Dave.”

“Mmm,” The blond groaned a bit, his muscles stiff from sleeping in the car, “Where are we?”

“Denver.”

Dave opened his door and blinked against the glaring lights of the city.  They were parked at a hotel and Dave greeted the welcomed sight with a smile.  He continued to smile as he followed Dirk in, bags in tow, and checked into the establishment.  The Hotel Monaco was large and expensive looking, and Dave felt like he had stepped into a dream.  The room his brother had rented for them was spacious and Dave wasted no time collapsing on the overstuffed, King-sized bed.  Dirk chuckled but soon joined his brother.  The snuggled together and fell asleep quickly, a fleeting though running through Dave’s mind.

_This really isn’t so bad._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, been on hiatus with my show opening and everything.


	7. Chapter 7

Dave walked into his bedroom and smirked.  There, lying on his bed, completely naked, was John.  The boy stroked his rock hard cock slowly as he watched the blond enter, the smirk on his lips devious, his eyes hungry.  Dave’s clothes disappeared, as if they were never there, and his dick was so hard it hurt, pre-cum dripping as he approached John.  The prone boy smirked and raised his legs up allowing Dave to step between before resting them on the blonde’s hips.  Dave groaned as he pushed his dick into delicious tightness, the boy under him squirming and biting his lips.  As he pumped in and out of the writhing boy, Dave wasn’t shocked when a strong arm slid around his torso, a rock hard cock pressed against his flexing ass muscles.  Turning, Dave locked lips with his brother and Dirk chuckled.

“Wake up, little man.”

Dave closed his eyes and bit his lips as the pressure around his cock pulsed, his hips bucking as he moaned, “Feels so good.”

“Wake up,” Dirk’s voice was husky, yet quiet.

Dave let his eyes flutter open.  He was in the hotel room, the ceiling above him and a soft warm bed beneath him.  Also above him were the glowing orange eyes of his brother, smoldering like embers as he smiled down at the boy.  Dave’s hips bucked involuntarily and he thrashed his head to the side as waves of pleasure continued to beat deep in his groin.  As he felt his climax building, Dave rose his head to watch his brother’s hand pumping up and down his shaft, his naked body almost completely uncovered and glistening with sweat.  With a whimper, Dave thrust his hips as his head hit the pillow, his release spilling out of him and splashing onto his skin. 

“Mornin’,” Dirk drawled, contemplating his fingers, now sticky and glistening.

Dave kept quiet, his breathing returning to normal before Dirk spoke again, “I’m going out.  I need to get some information and it’ll be easier to go alone.”

Dave’s heart sank, but he kept quiet as Dirk finished, “If I’m not back by nightfall, you are to take the black duffle bag and use what I’ve put in there for you to disappear.  I’d suggest leaving the country.”

“Dirk?” Dave attempted to keep the fear out of his voice.

“Here,” Dirk whipped his cum splattered hand on the bed before producing a small vinyl bag and handing it to his brother, “Amuse yourself with this.”

Dave pulled a box emblazoned with the words Nexus 4 from the bag and smiled, but he quickly turned to his brother, “You will come back, right?”

Dirk leaned in and pressed a kiss to Dave’s lips, making the blond sigh before he parted all too quickly, making his way to the door and leaving Dave sitting there naked and crestfallen.  After a few minutes, the young man extricated himself from the bed and padded off to the bathroom.  Steam rolled and the water burned but Dave let the heat sink into his sore muscles.  Once clean, the blond stepped from the shower and up to the mirror. 

His hair was still wet and spikey from toweling it down.  His eyes glowed like waning embers, red and shining.  He let them meet their own reflection for only a second before the chills caused him to look away.  He hated looking into his owns eyes, it made him almost feel his mortality, and as of recent attempts to bring it, Dave didn’t want to be reminded how close death was.  He traced the lines of his features, final coming to rest on the fine, soft hairs that had begun to sprout on his chin.  It had been days since he had shaven.  Grabbing the complimentary razor and cream, Dave lathered his face and turned on the warm water.

The scraping sound the razor made as it danced across his skin made the hairs on his neck stand up, but the relief of seeing a smooth, hairless path carved out of the foam made Dave smirk.  He loved being clean, and shaving was one was of assuring that.  It always made him feel at ease.  With every scrape of the razor, every rinse of the blade in the hot water, Dave felt his anxiety over his brother lessen.  They had survived much worse than an outing, and besides the cell phone tracking should’ve led their pursuers on a false trail for the time being.  Still, it would be handy to know what all was in the duffle.

Once his face was clean and Dave had run his fingers through his hair, approving his look in the mirror, the blond went in search of something to wear.  The black boxer briefs weren’t his usual fare, but after feeling the way they clung to his form and accentuated his bulge, Dave found his way to the full length mirror and smirked, imagining how Dirk would drool over the sight.  Digging back through his suitcase, Dave pulled out a tight pair of black jeans.  Clinging to his legs almost like they were painted there, Dave again mused at his reflection, enjoying how the boxer briefs mixed with the skinny jeans made his package more prominent, yet hung loosely lower down on his hips, enticing the eye.  A long sleeve graphic t-shirt finished the ensemble, white with red sleeves painted tightly on his torso with the emblem of a record on it.

Going over his reflection a few times, Dave finally was satisfied and searched the duffle bag his brother had indicated.  Unzipping the bag, Dave let out a low whistle.  Several wraps of hundred dollar bills looked back at him, their mustard wrapper blazoning their bundled amount. $10,000. And there were, at quick glance, at least twenty bundles.  There was a small packet with a jet black bank card with the emblem and letter SNB emblazoned on it.  It didn’t take long for Dave to figure out the anagram.  The Swiss National Bank.  His brother had left him a fucking card to a Swiss bank account as well as at least two hundred thousand dollars in cash.  Accompanying the card and cash was a passport under the name of David Knight, naming Dave as a 22 year old native of Florida.  The blond laughed.  There were various bits of paperwork including some contacts and their uses, a birth certificate and social security card. 

Resealing the bag, his curiosity sated for the moment, Dave flopped onto the bed and unwrapped the new phone his brother had given him.  After the initial set up and procedures, Dave inserted his SD card and was relieved when all his contacts, pictures, and music flashed up and into the phone’s memory.  Wasting no time, Dave opened a text window and typed a message to John.

_hey man you alive?  I got a new number.  It’s Dave._

Returning to his settings, it didn’t take long till Dave received a reply.

_Dave!!!  Thank goodness youre ok I’ve been so worried! Where are you?_

Dave frowned, he knew he couldn’t reveal his location just yet.

_Can’t exactly say man.  You?_

When his phone chimed, Dave eagerly looked at the text.  He blinked.  He closed the text window, shut off the phone, waited patiently for it to turn back on and reopened the text.  There was no mistaking what he saw.

_Staying at the Hotel Monaco in Denver.  We got in this morning._

Dave swallowed nervously.  There was no way.  John must have been compromised.  Some government agent must have his phone.  Dave pictured his best friend being held hostage, or worse… No.  He refused to think of that inevitability.  He tried to think of a way to make sure.  It hit him as his eyes glanced over his laptop bag.  His finger’s flew quickly over the keys, his mind racing through a million possibilities as he did. 

_Wanna play some League?  I can’t wait to trounce you with my favorite character, Teemo._

Dave counted every heartbeat as he waited for the response.  When the phone lit up and vibrated with a beep, the blond closed his eyes and prepared himself for the worst.  Tears of relief almost sprung to his eyes as he read John’s response.

_Come on, Dave.  It’s not nice to make fun of me.  I know you hate Teemo, but he’s fun to play._

Dave replied fervently, his hands shaking at the prospect of what he was about to suggest.

_Come to room 413.  Don’t ask, just knock three times._

Grabbing the pistol from his bag, Dave quickly strode to the door and waited, his heart beating in his throat.  He nearly jumped when the knock came, tentative yet three distinct knocks.  Peering through the spy hole, Dave nearly cried at the sight he saw.  There stood John with a confused look on his face.  Stowing the pistol in the back of his pants, Dave opened the door.

John’s khaki shorts were held tightly to his waste by a black belt, the excess which hung down a few inches near his right pocket.  His legs were tanned and covered in a light dusting of black hair.  His toes wiggled bare on the carpet of the hallway.  His black shirt was loose and flowing, pulled across his chest from where he held his hands awkwardly behind him, keeping balance as he rocked on his heels.  His eyes, as they met Dave’s, were sapphire blue and sparkled as they connected with Dave’s ember ones.

Dave pulled John in quickly and closed the door before launching in to hug his friend tightly.  John squeaked at first but then let out a hearty chuckle as he wrapped his arms around Dave and crushed him tight to his chest.  The enormity of the situation breached upon Dave and he held tightly to John.  This was the first time they’d ever met face to face.  The first time they’d ever hugged, ever touched.  John was alive, and by some strange circumstance in Denver at the same hotel as him.  Dave thanks whatever god was willing to claim responsibility for the act.  Laughing himself, Dave pulled back and smiled at John, pretenses of coolness temporarily forgotten in the joy of the moment.

“What the fuck ya doin here man?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” John laughed and Dave felt his heart skip a beat.

“My brother and I had to leave our apartment quick,” Dave thought up a quick lie, “Electrical fire.  So while paperwork is being sorted out, we kind of went on an impromptu excursion.”

John seemed to buy it with a bright smile, “Wow!  Well I’m glad you’re ok.  Yeah, Dad came home from his trip and told me to pack up, said he wanted to take me camping all of a sudden.  Though, to be honest, we haven’t done any camping yet.”

“So weird that we’re in the same place by chance,” Dave shook his head, attempting to keep his eyes from raking over his friend.  The boy looked like a God and the clean, crisp smell that rolled off of him was affecting Dave’s senses and he had to concentrate to not reveal his feeling in a very obvious, pants tenting way.

“Yeah,” the bespectacled boy laughed, “I thought we were going to Salt Lake City, but then last night Dad suddenly changed his mind.  We got in about six this morning.”

“It’s good to finally see you John,” Dave couldn’t fully hide the relief in his voice but if John heard it, he chose to ignore it.

After some banter exchanged and a quick trip back to his room for his laptop, John plopped down on the floor beside the bed and the two pulled up their favorite game to play together.  They laughed and talked over the game as they plunged in like nothing was strange or unusual to them.  Dave had convinced himself that all was well, he’d even stowed the gun under the pillow when John had left to grab his stuff.  It was getting on late afternoon when the door handle turned and Dave and John both looked up from their laptops to see Dirk walking in, a bag of Chinese food held loosely in his hand.

Dirk stopped when he saw the dark haired boy on the floor next to Dave, his orange eyes flickering between the two boys as the bag crashed to the floor.  Quickly pulling a gun from his pants, Dirk whirled and pointed it out the still open door.

“Dirk,” Dave started, “it’s just John.”

“So I see,” Dirk took a few steps back from the open door, his pistol trained out the opening. 

Dave was about to question his brother when he saw another pistol lead its way into the room, followed by a man in a long sleeve white button down and a fedora.  Judging by the complexion and the blue eyes, Dave could tell it was John’s dad.  As the two men entered the room, the older man nodded to the older blond, never taking his eyes off of him.

“Hello, Dirk.”


	8. Chapter 8

“Don’t do this, Josh,” Dirk backed further into the room, the older man following his every step.

“I have to take you in, Dirk,” the man explained calmly, his pistol never faltering, “You know I have to.”

“Josh, you gotta listen to me,” Dirk shifted back further.

“It’ll be easier if I take you in.”

“Damn it, Josh, would you listen to me?!” Dirk raised his voice, “How many years have we been partners?”

“Agents are dead, Dirk,” the man sternly replied, “Now I don’t want to shoot you, especially in front of the kids.  Don’t make me take you down.”

“Drop the gun, Mr. Egbert,” Dave stood on the bed, the pistol he had jammed under the pillow drawn and trained steadily on the older man while John sat on the floor dumbfounded.

“Dave,” Dirk warned.

“I said drop the gun,” Dave ignored his brother, “Give him a chance to explain.”

“Son, stay out of this,” Josh frowned at the new gun pointed at him.

“You’re outnumbered,” Dave replied, “If we wanted you dead, that would’ve already happened.”

“The kid has a point, Josh,” Dirk explained, “Just put it down.”

The man stood frozen for a moment before relenting, carefully placing the gun on the ground and kicking it to Dirk.  Dave, gun still trained on the man, joined his brother and retrieved the gun.  Stowing it in his pocket, Dave then turned his gun on his brother, placing the barrel against his temple.  Dirk’s eyes widened.

“Dave, what the fuck,” the older blond cursed.

“Give me your gun too,” Dave was surprised at how commanding his own tone was.

Dirk huffed and pulled the chamber, emptying the clip and tossing the gun away with a sigh.  Dave took several steps back, out of swinging range before lowering the barrel and addressing the two men.

“Now that THAT is settled, you boys can talk this out.”

“Bright kid you got there,” Josh remarked with a smirk.

“Learned from the best,” Dirk frowned, “Guess we can’t go shooting each other up now.”

“Pity,” the older man winked, “I had so looked forward to an epic firefight.”

“We may still get our chance,” Dirk replied dryly, “They’re not going to stop until they either catch me or I can prove my innocence.”

“And I’m supposed to help you in this?”

“Why else are you out here in Colorado?” Dirk laughed, “You knew they were after you too, so you planned to bring me in as proof that you aren’t with me, that you have nothing to do with this.  Always the misguided faith in the system, there, Egbert.”

“What choice did I have?” the older man pushed the door closed, eyeing Dave’s pistol but nothing more.

“You could’ve warned me!” Dirk almost shouted, “They were in my apartment, guns drawn, with the kid there!”

“Yes, and your escape and our current situation tell me why,” Josh wryly smiled at the younger blond.

“Honestly surprised your kid hasn’t pulled a gun,” Dirk chuckled.

“The very idea,” Josh scoffed indignantly.

“This is fun and all,” Dave interrupted, “But if you’re here, that means we’ll have company soon no doubt.”

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Dirk agreed, “I need to be able to access the network in a secure location and backtrack to find out what’s been going on.”

“So, Mr. Egbert, I see two options,” Dave raised the pistol again, “Either we leave you tied up to a chair here and bolt, or you help us get everything back to normal.”

“Umm excuse me,” John spoke up meekly from the floor, “Can someone tell me what’s going on?”

All three men turned to look at John who was still sitting a little dumbstruck on the floor.  That was all that was needed to ease the tension.  Dave was the first to laugh, followed by Josh, and finally Dirk even chuckled.  The younger blond smiled down at his friend fondly as the two older men approached one another and shook hands firmly.

“We’ll head to Roxy’s,” Josh suggested, “She’ll have the best chance of hacking the system.”

“Thanks,” Dirk sighed with relief.

“I want to believe you didn’t do this,” Mr. Egbert’s features darkened, “But if I find out otherwise, I’ll pull the trigger myself.”

The warning wasn’t lost on Dirk, who replied in kind, “I’ll let you.”

Dave was sad to pack up so quickly, he had hoped for a long respite.  It was becoming painfully obvious that it wasn’t to be for a long while.  The blond sighed as he packed away his laptop, stowing his pistol in the bag along with it.  It didn’t really bother him how much he was accustom to it in such a short time, in fact it felt almost natural to be by his brother’s side, fighting and running and acting completely outside the law.  John had been quite shocked by the quick and dirty his father and Dirk had to give him, but with a reassuring smile from Dave the blue eyed boy had agreed to go along.  They weren’t headed far, just outside the city to be exact, but they were taking no chances.

“John’s checking us out now,” Dirk entered the room, crossing to the window and checking out the curtain carefully, “They had a tail.  Don’t think they’ve spotted us yet though.”

“So we’re going with the fire alarm plan then?”

“Looks like it,” the older blond smirked from the window, “You ready?”

“Dirk?” The thought had been swirling around Dave’s mind ever since the Egberts showed up, but now that things were getting serious he felt he had to voice it, “What’s going to happen to…us?”

“Us?” Dirk smiled quizzically.

“You know,” Dave blushed, “Us.  Like, the two of us as…man are you really gonna make me say it?”

Dirk slowly approached his brother, the devious smile spread further as he came within inches of the young blond, “Yes.”

Dave swallowed nervously, his cheeks flushing red, “Can we still have sex?”

“Do you want to?” Dirk pressed his body gently against Dave’s and the younger man sighed, his body reacting as he put his head on his brother’s chest.

“Of course,” it was almost a sigh.

“What about John?”

“Am I that obvious?” Dave buried his face into Dirk’s chest.

“Only because I was looking for it,” the older man admitted, “John’s a very handsome young man.”

“Understatement of the year,” Dave muttered, “So?”

“If you want,” Dirk tilted Dave’s head up and caught his lips.

Dave groaned as the kiss ended all too soon, but realized there was work to be done and his lust would have to be put on hold.  Their survival came first.  Hefting his bag over his shoulder and stuffing a secondary pistol in the back of his pants, Dave slid on his sunglasses and followed Dirk to the door.  At the end of the hall, Mr. Egbert stood near the fire exit.  His countenance eased when John came hurrying down the hall.

“Alright, John?  Stick with Dave,” Mr. Egbert directed, “If anything happens, you two get as far from here as you can.”

“Yes, Dad,” John sighed with resignation.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Egbert,” Dave smirked, “We’ll be ok.”

Nodding at the young blond, the older man turned his eyes to his partner, “Ready?”

Dirk threw a wink, “Always.”

With a jerk, the red lever released a hail of flashing lights and ringing bells.  There was momentary calm before a clatter began as guests started appearing in the hallway.  By then, the four men had disappeared into the fire stairs and down to the service entrance.  With a quick check out the door, Dirk signaled the all clear and the four moved quickly down a side street.  Ducking in an alleyway, the men stopped at Dirk’s signal.  The blond checked around the street and called the all clear.  Piling into the truck, Dave released a sigh as Dirk fired up the engine and pulled down the street.  Dave, in the back seat with John, did a cursory check out the back and saw no sign of black SUVs in pursuit, no one taking notice of them at all.  He leaned back and smiled at John who couldn’t help but smile back.

They were on the road for a little more than an hour, quickly slipping out of town and heading into the mountains.  The roads turned from highway to state route to country road till finally the truck turned completely off road and down a gravel path.  When it seemed like the woods around them could get no thicker, they suddenly ended to reveal a small cabin jutting up against the side of a cliff.  As they parked and piled out, Dave turned to Dirk with a quizzical smile.

“Where are we?”

“Training 101 little man,” Dirk ruffled his brother’s hair, “Time to teach you how to be an agent.”


	9. Chapter 9

The facility was much larger than it appeared on the outside.  The quaint little cabin had a bedroom, bathroom, and open living and kitchen area.  The cellar door, however, lead down a short flight of steps before opening into a large hanger carved under the cliff and cabin.  There were a handful of simple quarters with bunks and dressers in each, a full service garage which Dirk drove the truck into once night had fallen, there was a shooting range, a dojo, a workout room, food stores, and a swimming pool.  Dave felt like he’d stepped into a spy movie with the finery and gadgetry that surrounded him, and he was almost correct.

“We’ve got a week,” Dirk had said as he’d help Dave unpack into one of the barrack rooms, “Then we have to move out.”

“Don’t they know about this place?” Dave made sure to keep one sidearm within reach of the bed, and stuffing one under it just in case.

“The agency doesn’t,” Dirk confessed, “Some other people do, though, so we have to be careful.”

Training began in earnest.  While a refreshed course for Dave in the basics of combat, John was completely unused to hand to hand techniques and the going was slow.  Dave didn’t mind, however, and Mr. Egbert was a very apt teacher.  After about an hour of hand to hand techniques, the small gym had become super-heated forcing the boys to both strip off their shirts in an attempt to remain cool as the older man drilled them repeatedly on techniques.  Dave found it increasingly hard to concentrate with John’s naked flesh not only exposed, but touching his own.  John beamed as he began to get the upper hand on Dave, though the blond knew he was throwing spars just so the brunette would pin him, eyes gleaming and chest heaving as he pushed up close against his defeated opponent. 

It was a mixture of relief and disappointment when Mr. Egbert seemed satisfied and called a halt to the combats.  Next, the boys were off to the shooting range.  It took little time for Dave to acclimate himself to the firearm and he’d even peppered the target in a few vital areas.  However, when he turned to look at John’s progress, the black haired boy had landed almost every shot straight into the chest of the target, nearly dead center.  This woke the competitive nature in Dave and he made sure when they hit the dojo to show up John with his swordsmanship.  For this part of the training, Dirk took over command, having spent all afternoon fabricating parts in the garage.  John lacked any finesse with a blade and began to get frustrated as time and time again Dave disarmed him.  Tossing the sword aside, the other boy grabbed at the assortment of martial weapons that hung on the wall and pulled a war hammer from its hanging.  While still no match for Dave agility with a blade, John definitely kept the blond on his toes as he reengaged his opponent with vigor and budding skill.

“Impressive,” Dirk had mused at John’s choice of weaponry.

“Wields kinda like a lacrosse stick,” John shrugged with a goofy smirk.

The first day ended with some strength training and a few laps around the pool.  Dave was so exhausted that he dropped off almost instantly, enjoying the quiet and cool of his own private room.  His dreams were filled with images of John pinning him to the mat, sweaty and smiling.  Then he’d flash to his sexual escapades with his brother.  When he woke up, his dick hurt it was so hard.  He was reaching for it when there was a swift knock at the door and he had enough time to cover himself up before John came bouncing into the room to summon him to breakfast and the days training.

The second day they reviewed combat techniques and Mr. Egbert dismissed Dave after only half an hour, shooing him off while he did some one on one training with John.  Dave found Dirk shirtless and covered in grease, halfway under the truck which looked butchered all to hell, panels missing and the hood and engine removed.  The younger blond stopped just shy, enjoying the view and daydreaming of the things he’d like to do to the older blond when he rolled out from under the vehicle.

“Stop ogling and give me a hand will you?” Dirk wink at his brother and Dave blushed.

Grabbing a second gurney and rolled under the chassis with his brother.  Together they tuned up the engine, added some modifications and remote controls of Dirk’s own design, and added some extra armor paneling.  At every opportunity, Dave would get close to Dirk, enjoying the heat and smell of sweat that poured off his brother.  When applying a remote steering device, they were parallel, their heads upside down and near one another.  Dave couldn’t help but stare at Dirk as the man concentrated on attaching the device.  How his eyebrows creased in concentration, his hair slicked back with sweat and a streak of black grease, his orange eyes burning, his pink tongue sticking ever so seductively out the side of his chapped, pale lips.  Dave couldn’t pry his eyes away, even as Dirk noticed and turned to look at him.  The movement was slow and deliberate as Dirk rolled a little further up and leaned in to kiss Dave, the upside down kiss allowing both men to suck the other’s bottom lip into his mouth. 

A door slam made Dirk pull away suddenly as the sound of John and his dad echoed off the walls.  Dave cursed under his breath at the foiled intimacy.  Mr. Egbert insisted that John and him help piece the truck back together and the four men spent the next several hours adding the plated armor and replacing the panels.  A round in the shooting range was about all Dave could bring himself to do before he drug his feet to his room and collapsed into another exhausted sleep.  The dreams were merciless once more and Dave growled when John woke him up for another day of pain and suffering. 

Dave’s frustration got the best of him in their initial sparing matches where he would pin the dark haired boy constantly, lording over his with a mischievous smile and pressing their bodies hard together.  There was a moment, just a glimpse of a shadow that passed over John’s eyes as Dave pressed down on him and the blond felt his heart thud.  But it was over quickly as Mr. Egbert instructed them to reset.  After a few rounds in the shooting range, leaning some different firearms, Dave decided that hitting the gym wouldn’t be such a bad idea.  He was a little surprised when John decided to join him.  Dave was even more surprised that John could keep up with him in almost every workout he decided to do.  When John asked Dave to spot him on the bench press, however, Dave swallowed and pushed the unsexiest thoughts he could into his mind as John laid down, his head very close to Dave’s crotch.  He managed to only steal a few glances at John’s well-toned arms and how the fabric laid over the other boy’s form hinting at curves and valleys.

When they traded positions, Dave kept his focus on the bar and the ceiling, his eyes never straying to John.  On his fifth set of reps, however, Dave dared a glance up at John and quirked a smile at what he saw.  The boy was definitely focusing on Dave, but not on his arms.  Glancing away quickly as the blue eyed boy returned his focus, Dave couldn’t help but slow his reps, making sure his straddled the bench a little more, just for comfort of course.  The blond dared to hope that his darkest desires were true and that nagging little voice of pessimism was almost squelched by a burst of optimism.  After a good workout, the boys decided to spend the evening in the pool.

When the two older men came in and informed them that they were heading in to town for a few things, the boys reassured their respective guardians that they were ok and knew what to do should the unforeseeable happen.  As the men disappeared, John dove back under the water and burst back out, giggling.

“So this is sort of surreal,” John laughed, “This whole situation, I mean.”

“If I remember correctly, you’re the one who pegged them for being part of a secret conspiracy,” Dave shrugged, “I honestly thought you knew.”

“No clue,” John sulked, “It’s kind of a lot to take in really.”

“Yeah,” Memories flashed of the initial escape, the man falling off the building, the grenade, the shoulder wound that was nothing more than a shiny new scar.

Grabbing a ball John had brought with him on his father’s impromptu camping trip, Dave signaled John to go to the other end of the pool.  A game of catch ensued, with each boy doing different tricks in the pool to catch and throw the ball.  Their laughter echoed off the walls and Dave felt more relaxed than he’d been in a while.  After a while the game of toss evolved into a game of keep away when Dave held onto the ball and refused to return it.  Splashing and giggling, dunking and swimming after the ball.  When John grabbed the ball and scaled out of the pool, Dave had no choice but to pursue, carelessly running around the pool as John dove into the small bathroom off the shallow end.  Dave wrenched the door open before John had a chance to get if fully closed and followed in, slamming the door closed behind him, locking it with a wicked smirk.  John giggled and tossed the ball at Dave, both their chests heaving from the exercise.

As their breathing evened out, John kept smiling but didn’t move as Dave took a tentative step closer, their eyes locked.  John’s skin was wet and tightly muscled, his training for lacrosse having defined his muscles even more than the picture he’d sent Dave had been able to show.  The blond swallowed, a sudden tense nervousness tightening his chest.  John let out a low chuckle and whispered secretively.

“Hi Dave.”

“Sup,” Dave’s tongue felt fat in his mouth but dry all the same.

“I don’t know why, but…” John’s voice trailed off, but he couldn’t look away from his friend.

“John?” Dave felt the severity of the situation setting in

“I don’t know,” the dark haired boy laughed nervously, “I don’t think I can.”

“Can what?” Dave was confused and the blue eyes gave nothing away.

John’s hand danced across his own chest before drifting down, dragging Dave’s eyes with it before it stopped, fingers picking at the top of John’s swim trunks.  Dave swallowed and raked his eyes back up John’s body.

“Show me?” The blond could hardly believe the words were coming out of his mouth, but it was what he really wanted. 

John nodded slowly, the smile never leaving his lips as his fingers toyed around the top of his swim trunks before pushing the fabric down slowly.  A thick bush of black pubic hair began to sprout as he lowered the white and blue fabric.  As John pushed his trucks down his thigh, Dave let out a sigh as the boys flaccid penis appeared.  He couldn’t help himself, and suddenly his hand was touching the soft, limp skin.  John took in a shuddering breath and a soft moan escaped his lips.  Dave stepped closer as he continued to fondle his best friend.  When John’s half lidded eyes met Dave’s, the blond felt a shiver run down his spine and prayed he wouldn’t wake up if this was a dream.  Without warning, John lunged forward and captured the blonde’s lips, hungrily pushing his tongue into Dave’s mouth and making the blond whimper was they fiercely battled, Dave’s fingers tugging at John’s still flaccid penis.

Tearing away from the kiss, Dave swore he could see stars as he rested in the crook of John’s neck, the dark haired boy breathing heavily in his ear.  Dave’s teeth connected with the fleshy part of John’s broad shoulder and the other boy groaned as Dave nipped at the skin, claiming it as his own.  His knees were weak already so slowly slipping down in front of John was only natural, the trail of kisses on the boy’s chlorine soaked skin the only thing slowing his progress.  Without hesitation, Dave enveloped John’s member with his mouth and the boy above him dug his fingers into the blonde’s hair.  As the flesh in his mouth began to twitch to life, Dave sucked and swirled his tongue with renewed vigor as John groaned and thrust his hips.  Dave expected to wake up from the dream any moment, or to have some black clad men burst through the door, or the building to collapse on them, any number of things that would ruin this moment. 

Instead, John pulled Dave back to his feet and crushed their lips back together, rendering Dave dumb with kisses.  Pushing the blond up against the door, John shoved his hand down Dave’s pants and was rewarded as the blond moaned into his mouth.  The blue eyed boy sunk down, pulling Dave’s red Iron Man swim trunks with him, coming face to face with Dave’s rock hard member.  John hesitated and looked up at Dave.  The blond ran his hand down the side of John’s face and smiled.

“Dude, you don’t have to.”

“But I want to,” John’s voice wavered, unsure, but the words made Dave’s cock jump in anticipation.

“Really,” Dave breathed, “It’s ok.”

John nodded and Dave felt his heart drop a little at this hiccup in his fantasy, that is until his cock was fully engulfed in John’s mouth, the dark haired boy gagging and coughing as he pulled back, laughing, “Too much.”

“Go slow, dumbass,” Dave ruffled John’s matted, wet hair.

The boy nodded and wrapped his mouth around the head of Dave’s cock, his hand encircling the shaft and pumping it roughly.  John made up for his inexperience with his enthusiasm, combined with Dave’s recent lack of release, it wasn’t too long before the blond felt the end nearing, and he warned his friend.  John stood and recaptured Dave’s lips in a fierce sparing of the tongues, pumping the blond faster as Dave wrapped his own hand around John’s cock.  The two boys panted and kissed and stroked each other until with a cry Dave trust his hips forward and shot white hot ropes across John’s thigh and onto the floor.  Pressing his lips harder against John, Dave pulled at the other boys cock until he felt John begin to tremble, his knees shaking as he moaned into the blonde’s mouth, his cock pulsing as searing hot liquid splashed onto Dave’s stomach and the door behind him.  Dave held them both up with shaky legs as John collapsed onto him, his breath short and labored.  After a few moments, Dave helped the boy stand back up, pulling his own trunks back up and securing them in place as he searched blue eyes with his red ones.

“You ok?”

“Yeah,” John was still slightly shaky, but he pushed a soft, reassuring kiss to Dave’s lips.

Wrapping their arms around each other, the two boys held each other for several minutes, not talking just holding each other.  Dave didn’t want to move, but when John pulled away, he let him go.  The dark haired boy smiled shyly as he reached to the floor and retrieved the long forgotten ball.  Dave laughed and nodded as he unlocked the door and the two boys exited back to the pool, where they dove in and continued to play as if nothing had happened, save for the small lingering glances between tosses and the blushes that rose in their cheeks.

They had redressed and were in the main cabin watching television when their guardians returned.  As John bounded after his dad to help him prepare dinner, Dirk passed an inquisitive look to Dave who couldn’t look him directly in the eye, only blush and study the television with unusual interest.  Dave nearly jumped when Dirk’s hands slid down his chest from behind the couch, his brother’s hot breath on his neck, his voice in his ear.

“You smell like him,” Dirk’s tone was flat.

“Bro,” Dave swallowed nervously, “I…”

“Relax,” the older blond chuckled, “I can share.”

Dave sighed with relief and accepted a quick kiss from his brother, before the older man pulled away and patted his shoulder reassuringly, “Come on, let’s get in a quick spar before dinner.”

Dave nodded and eagerly followed his brother down to the dojo.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Totally unintentional hiatus concluded, enjoy my apologies with another NSFW chapter :)

Dave threw himself full force into the strike, but his brother side stepped the clumsy charge.  Using his momentum, Dave ran a few steps up the wall and did a somersault flip, turning back to his foe in time to deflect a swipe at his chest.  The match had been going for some time and both men were drenched in sweat, their muscles screaming, and Dave had a little nick on his bicep from when he had been a little too slow.  With a kick off and a side spin, Dave swept at his brother’s feet as he raised his sword to protect his back, the older blonde side flipping over him and striking down at him before landing and rolling out of reach. 

“Dinner’s ready,” John bounced into the room.

There was a brief exchanging of looks, a devious smile creeping across Dirk’s lips as Dave warned, “Don’t you dare.”

But Dirk had already launched himself across the dojo straight at the dark haired boy.  Dave worried for John’s safety until Dirk’s sword connected with a loud clang against the hammer John had grabbed from the wall, quickly arming himself for the defense.  Dave took the opportunity to charge at his brother again and soon the match turned, two against one.  Dirk bobbed and weaved between blows, laughing throatily at the change of pace.  John, however, wasn’t as skilled as Dave and Dirk took the advantage, kicking the weapon from the boy’s hand and sending him sprawling to the floor.  Dave jumped in between them but with his sudden loss of focus over John, Dirk quickly disarmed him and sent him toppling on top of the other boy.  Dave looked down at John, panting as their bodies were crushed together and a flush ran to both their cheeks.  That’s when Dave felt cold metal touch his neck and his brother press up hard behind him.

“I win,” Dirk’s voice was low and dangerous like a lion’s purr and it made Dave’s cock twitch.

John looked up at Dave as he felt the blonde’s body respond, then to the older man hovering over them, then back as his blush deepened and he looked away.  Dirk lingered for another second before disengaging and offering his hand to Dave.  The younger man took his hand and stood, turning to offer the same to John.  The other boy, however, stood on his own and refused to look either man in the eye.

“Dinner,” John mumbled before racing from the room.

Dave turned to Dirk crestfallen but the older man put on a stoic look, ruffling his brother’s hair before exiting the dojo.  The dinner table was awkwardly quiet and Dave shoveled down his food faster than normal before excusing himself to shower and call it a night.  The showers were quiet save for the hiss of water and Dave stood with his back to the spray, little rivulets of water coursing over his body, steam surrounding him as he stared at the floor, deep in thought.  He secretly hoped that his brother would come sneak in behind him like that night at the hotel.  He hoped John would poke his head in and engage in an awkward make-out session.  But he was alone in the stalls.  With a heavy, defeated sigh, Dave shut off the water and sulked off to his lonely chamber.

It was well after midnight.  Dave had tossed and turned but had failed to get to sleep at all.  He didn’t jump when the door handle rattled, only slid his eyes sullenly to observe who would walk through the door.  He almost hopped it’d be some battle ready soldier wielding a gun.  When John peeked in from the dimly lit hallway, however, Dave couldn’t help but feel relief spread through him. 

“Dave?” John’s voice was barely a whisper, tentative and secret.

“Come on in,” Dave matched his friend’s volume, but made his tone as nonchalant as possible.

The dark haired boy closed the door behind him and padded across the dark room, bumping into the bed before climbing in and snuggling up to Dave.  The blonde just wrapped his arm around the boy and sighed happily.  They laid there quietly for some time before John spoke up.

“Dave?”

“Hm?”

“Can…can I ask you something?”

“Sure can, Egbert.”

There was a prolonged silence before John cleared his throat and continued, “Today.  Sparing.  With your brother.  When we were beaten… when we… do you… oh my god why is this so hard to ask?”

Dave chuckled darkly, “Because it’s not an easy question to ask.  Or answer.”

They were quiet for a few more moments before Dave screwed up the courage to continue, “Yes.  Dirk and I have.  I’ll understand if you want to leave.”

John didn’t move, instead mulling over the answer to the question he couldn’t ask, “Wasn’t that, I dunno, kinda weird?  I mean he is your brother, right?”

“Yeah,” Dave remembered back to holding the gun to his brother’s head, to forcing the older man to suck his dick, to fucking him, “It was a weird situation all together.”

“I’ll bet.”

They were quiet for a few more moments before curiosity got the better of Dave, “So you’re ok with it?”

“Well I can’t say I expected it,” John chuckled, “But then again I didn’t expect what happened in the bathroom today.  Or this actually.  I’m kinda just going with what feels right, ya know?”

“Liberating isn’t it?” Dave laughed and pulled John up into a kiss.

“Very,” John hummed against his friend’s lips, his breath catching as the blond pressed into his hips.

Dave rolled John onto his back, their lips staying connected as the blond ran his hand down John’s chest and stomach, grabbing at the growing bulge in the black haired boy’s shorts.  John groaned and wriggled his hips in response.  Shoving his hand greedily beneath the mesh fabric, Dave wasted no time in furiously pumping John’s cock.  Pulling back with a hiss, John bit his lips as his eyes fluttered shut, a soft, high pitched whine building in his throat.

“So fucking hot,” Dave rutted himself into John’s hip as he nipped at the boy’s throat.

John hissed again, “Damn.  Shit.  Shit, Dave, I can’t hold it.”

“Do it,” Dave smiled into his neck and John groaned as his hips thrust, his legs shaking as he coated the blonde’s hand in warm cum.

“I’m sorry,” John panted, his voice shaky with a twinge of disappointment.

“For what?” Dave laughed, whipping his hand on a discarded shirt on the floor.

“Not lasting very long.”

“Don’t sweat it,” the blond placed a pacifying kiss on his lover’s swollen lips, before adjusting himself with a growl, his erection pressing against his shorts.

“Dave?”

“Hm?”

“Can I…watch?”

Dave’s cock jumped in the confines of his shorts, “Watch?”

“Yeah,” John fumbled for words in the dark room, “Like, watch you cum?  I’m a little worn out and don’t know that I could do it for you, but I want you to get off too.”

“Little dark in here,” Dave smiled.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” John’s voice was so disheartened that Dave had to laugh and kiss him reassuringly.

“You are such a dork,” Dave reached for the bedside table and flicked on the small light that sat on it, wincing as a pale light flooded the room.

Red met blue in the dim light and blushes rose in both their cheeks.  John wiggled away from Dave a bit as the blond slid his shorts off, his cock bouncing happily as its prison was removed.  Stretching his arm out invitingly, Dave sighed contentedly as John snuggled back up against him.  Taking his free hand, a throaty groan escaped the blonde’s parted lips as his hand connected with his sensitive flesh.  Dave tried to put on a little bit of a show, slowly pumping the shaft, flexing this way and that with his hand, tugging at his balls, but he couldn’t hold back for long and soon he dove in to pumping himself furiously, racing to climax.  A warm hand on his chest made him slow a bit, bringing him back to the fact that he had an audience to his actions, and suddenly it wasn’t about racing to the finish.

Nudging his forehead into the boy next to him, Dave whispered moans into him, “John.  I’ve wanted you for so long.  Mmm.  God I want to explore every inch of your body.”

The dark haired boy replied huskily, “I’ve always wanted to see you jerk off.  I can’t believe you’re doing it for me.”

Dave hummed at the encouragement, “Oh, baby.  I wanna cum for you so bad.”

“Yeah?” John rubbed his hand across Dave’s chest and fondled first one nipple then the other, “You gonna cum for me?”

“Mm-hm,” Dave whined.

“Wanna fuck me?”

“Yeah,” his voice was breathy as his hips bucked, his speed increasing and a fire burned in his belly.

“Shove your dick into me?” John continued his dirty talk, “Make me scream your name?”

“Oh fuck, John,” Dave groaned, “I’m gonna shoot.”

“Then shoot it.”

Dave nearly screamed, biting his lip as a powerful orgasm tore through him, sending his body into spasms as his eyes locked with John’s.  Panting, the blond couldn’t help himself as he pressed fevered kiss after fevered kiss to his lover until John gently pushed back laughing, trying to catch his breath.  After a quick clean up, the two boys snuggled together as sleep began to take them.  As Dave drifted off, he couldn’t help but smile at how absurdly right it all felt.


	11. Chapter 11

Dave woke as John tried to carefully remove himself from the bed.  The blond stretched and smiled sleepily up at the dark haired boy.

“Mornin’,” He drawled.

“Ok, that was totally kiss worthy,” John giggled and leaned down, planting a soft, chaste kiss on the other boy before standing again.

“Leavin’ already?” Dave thickened his accent, hoping to be rewarded with another sleepy kiss.

“Dad’ll be up soon,” John sighed, “I don’t think that’s something I want to face yet.”

“Yeah,” Dave sighed as he watched John open the door, stopping him with a quiet, “John?”

The brunette peeked back around the door cautiously as Dave licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry as he whispered what his heart truly felt, “I…I love you.”

Blue eyes shimmered as a smile burst onto John’s face and he crossed the room swiftly, pressing a deep kiss to his unprepared friend, “Love you too.”

Dave sighed as John reluctantly stood and exited the room.  Stretching back out on his bed, Dave inhaled the scent the boy left behind and smiled before drifting back off to sleep.  When next he awoke it was to his brother pounding on the door, telling him it was time to get up.  The day went much the same with training and preparing for their venture out.  Mr. Egbert took the boys for a hike in the wilderness surrounding them, teaching them how to locate edible plants, how to start fires, and how to build shelters should the need arise to disappear from civilization.  When they returned, Dave found Dirk with a huge smirk, surrounded by boxes and discarded wrapping materials, electronics and wires amassed on different surfaces as the man tinkered with what looked like a metal exoskeleton sleeve propped on a make-shift dummy. 

“What is that?” Dave inspected the piece as his brother straightened up from his work.

“Put it on,” The devious look was rather unnerving to the younger blond but, with the assistance of his brother, he did as he was commanded.

“Ok, now what?” Dave felt the metal pressing slightly on pivot points in his arm and shoulder and flexed his fingers, pulling wires which made metal digits mimic his movements.

“Pick up the truck,” Dirk’s smile broadened.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Realization dawned on Dave as he turned to their vehicle and placed his arm carefully under the front bumper.

It took some effort, and his muscles screamed at him about the impossibility of it all, but Dave pulled up against the tremendous weight of the vehicle.  With a groan, the truck slowly lifted off the ground.  Dave’s legs began to shake as the immense weight of the truck shifted so that part of it was resting on him, forcing him to drop the vehicle after only raising it a few inches off the ground.

“Fuck man,” Dave beamed at his brother, “That’s awesome!”

“I don’t have all the stabilizers in place,” Dirk explained as he carefully freed his brother from the piece, “It will work better when I have the whole suit up and functional.”

“Suit?” Dave laughed, “What are you trying to be, Iron Man?”

“Hardly,” The older blond scoffed, “Just a pet project of mine, figured it might come in handy.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” Dave agreed.

“Dirk,” Mr. Egbert entered the open bay with purpose, “We’ve gotta move out.”

Dirk nodded and began packing away his device, “Are they on to us?”

“They’re starting a sweep of all known locations,” John rushed into the room behind his father as the man continued, “We’ve got a few hours to vacate fortunately.”

“At least we’ve got a heads up,” Dave sighed.

“You can thank Ms. Lalonde for it, too.”

“Roxy?” Dirk tossed the case he had packed into the bed of the truck, securing it with a strap, “So she’s in then?”

“She’s managed to hack into the database,” Mr. Egbert explained, “Whoever set us up was sure to cover their tracks.  Likely an inside job.  And she thinks the whole project is on the wipe list.  Someone is trying to clean up.”

“What project?” John looked baffled.

“Later,” Mr. Egbert turned to his son, “Right now we need to get packed and put as many miles between us and here as possible.”

The little bunker turned into a hub of activity as the four men packed up everything that they could before abandoning the refuge.  The car ride was quiet, the two older men up front and the boys seated in back.  Once they hit major thoroughfares, Dave dug into his bag and withdrew his new phone, flipping through the music he had seen fit to transfer to the device and plugging in his ear buds.  Passing one to John, the two boys leaned close in the back seat as Dave hit play and music began streaming.  With a subtle nod to his brother in the rear view mirror, Dave slid his hand into John’s and settled in for the long haul. 

Dave watched as cars zipped past, cities came and faded into the distance, and the sun switched positions in the sky.  The first time they stopped, the boys had loaded up on junk food as the older men filled the tank and switched drivers.  After the second stop for food and refueling, John and Dave gave up pretenses and stretched out in the back seat, John in Dave’s lap as the blond propped himself against the window.  The two men in front said nothing and Dave sighed as the day began to turn into evening.  When they pulled off the interstate, Dave lazily read the road sign.  Kansas City.  When the neon sign for a Holiday Inn filled his view, Dave put on a sleepy smile.

At the front desk, Dirk purchased 2 rooms, paying cash and passed one card to Mr. Egbert as he shouldered his bag.  Dave gave a sideways glance to John, a resigned smile playing on his lips as they made their way to the elevator.  With a secretive squeeze of hands, Dave and John parted way, following their respective guardians into their rooms.  Dave crashed on his bed as Dirk headed straight into the bathroom, turning the shower on before he even closed the door.  Dave idly pulled out his laptop, plugging his phone in and syncing up a new playlist for what he was sure would be an equally long car ride in the morning. 

Dave quickly spiraled into a shallow depression as he laid in his bed ,realizing that his brother would sleep in his own bed and that John had no way of sneaking in to his room and curling up with him.  It must have read on his face as well, for when his brother exited the bathroom clad only in a towel, he looked over the younger man and laughed darkly.

“Wounded so easily,” Dirk smirked, “Don’t look so dejected, you’ll get to sleep with him again soon enough.”

“I know,” Dave sighed, “It just felt, I dunno, kinda right to be curled up with him.”

“That’s because you’re in love,” The older man sighed, “I know the feeling.”

“Who was the lucky lady?” Dave teased.

Dirk looked at his brother for a long moment, but didn’t answer him.  Dave turned on his side as his brother extinguished the light and sighed heavily again, the creeping cold loneliness settling in once more.  When the bed depressed under the weight of his brother, Dave felt his heart flutter and relief pour over him as a warn arm curled around his chest and pulled him in protectively.  Dave squirmed free only for a moment to remove what clothes he had left on, enjoying the feeling of naked skin against skin as he wriggled back into his brother’s waiting arms.

Dirk lazily planted kisses on Dave’s neck as the blond pushed back into the older man, savoring the feeling of skin on skin and the warmth of the other man’s growing erection pressing into his back side.  Shifting his hands down the boy’s body, Dirk lifted Dave’s legs slightly, pushing his cock between the boy’s thighs and slowly stroking himself in and out of the warm, pressed flesh.  This sensation was new and Dave liked it, sighing happily as Dirk wrapped his hand around the younger man’s own cock and pumping slowly to match his own rhythm.  There wasn’t a rush to their movements, just slow and steady as Dave writhed under his brother’s touch, savoring every sensation and letting his climax build till he couldn’t hold it any longer.

With a grunt and a long moan, Dave warned his brother the end was near.  Dirk pushed Dave onto his back, careful to keep his movements gentle and slow until he got the young man cock deep in his throat.  Dave took in a sharp breath, hissing as he was sent over the edge, pumping deep into Dirk’s hungry mouth, his fingers burying in still damp hair as his hips pushed deep as they could.  With a pained exhale, Dave went lax and pooled on the bed.  Dirk climbed back up and spooned his brother again.  When the younger man tried to reach around and lazily grab at the elder’s dick, Dirk pushed his hand away gently.

“Sleep,” Dirk instructed.

Dave wanted to argue but found himself already losing consciousness in the warm, protective, loving embrace of his older brother.  He almost missed the soft confession Dirk.

“And his name was Jake.”


	12. Chapter 12

They were back on the road shortly after dawn.  Dave idly watched the city signs go by.  Columbia.  St Louis.  They switched drivers in Effingham.  Terre Haute.  Indianapolis.  Richmond.  Huber Heights.  Columbus. They switched again in Akron.  Cleveland.  Erie.  The clock on the dash glowed the nearing of midnight as they pulled off the highway at Buffalo.  Dave had never been so happy to set foot on solid ground.  His legs felt like rubber and his tailbone was screaming at him.  The hotel was small yet comfortable, a local chain.  When the two older men got room keys, that’s when John spoke up.

“I’m not tired,” he complained, “Can Dave and I stay down here and play on our laptops or something?”

Mr. Egbert exchanged looks with Dirk before consenting, “I guess so.”

Dave’s posture straightened out and a smile broke his lips as Dirk handed him a key, “Hey, Josh.  Why don’t we let the boys room together tonight?”

“Fine,” the other man yawned, “Just be ready no later than 8.”

“Yes, sir,” John replied smartly, the mischievous gleam in his eye making Dave’s heart skip a beat.

The four men parted ways, Dirk and Mr. Egbert trudging into their room across the hall from the door Dave’s key led to.  The blond began to think of all the things they could do together.  All the positions they could have sex in.  All the noises he wanted John to make all night long.  Throwing his stuff on the bed, Dave excused himself to shower quickly.  Deviant to the last, he conveniently forgot to close the door all the way.  However, after several minutes of standing in the warm water patiently waiting, Dave’s heart dropped and he finished his shower dismally before returning to the room.  John was sitting at the desk, still fully clothed with his laptop open.  A surge of frustration swept through Dave but he managed to swallow it down before he made a fool out of himself.  Just as he was about to calmly reprimand his new lover on his missed opportunity for hot as fuck shower sex, John turned and beamed up at him.

“Finally!  Hurry up and get dressed.”

“Dressed?” The frustration hit him again, “Egderp, why the fuck should I put clothes on this fine piece of man ass you are missing out on currently?”

“Shut up,” John giggled, jumping up and placing a swift kiss on Dave’s confused lips, “Because I want to do something romantic first.”

“Romantic?” Dave caught the shirt John tossed at him.

“Come on,” the other boy rolled his eyes impatiently, “We didn’t come all the way to New York to not see Niagra Falls.”

Dave couldn’t help but smirk, “And just how are we going to get there, genius?  Bro took the keys.”

John matched his smile and pulled a large wad of cash out of his pocket, “Ever hear of a taxi, southern boy?”

“Be still my beatin’ heart,” Dave drawled as he pulled on his clothes, “The gentleman callin’ a cab for little ol’ me?  I believe I do have the vapors!”

“May I escort you to the debutant ball?” John extended his arm.

Slipping into his shoes, Dave sauntered over and took his lover’s arm.  The two boys laughed at their own silliness and made their way down to the lobby.  When the cab arrived, John handed the driver a few bills to start with before making his request.  The man happily nodded as the two boys snuggled in the back seat.  Even though they had spent all day in a car, this felt different.  The man driving them was a faceless entity, one they would most likely never see again.  So the boys let go, trading soft kisses and whispering excitedly to one another as they rode along the highway.

It was nearing one in the morning when they cab dropped them off.  Handing the man the total fare with a large tip and a wink, John took Dave’s hand and interlaced their fingers, walking along the deserted street.  The roaring sound of water made John tug Dave along faster.  The observation tower was closed but they could still hear, see, smell, and taste the water.  John’s face fell a little.

“I thought it would be bigger.”

“That’s what she said,” Dave couldn’t resist, “Come on man, there’s a little map here.”

John joined his lover at the little aerial drawing indicating their location in relation to the falls as Dave pointed, “Look.  We’re here.  We need to go to Brother Island to see the big falls.”

“Do you think we can walk there?”

“Who’s going to stop us at one in the morning?” Dave chuckled.

The bridge to Brother Island probably wasn’t meant for foot traffic, but there was no one to be seen so the two boys strolled across hand in hand.  Navigating the small number of roads, it took them little over half an hour to come upon the second observation point, a flat bit of concrete jutting right up next to the falls.  John took in an awestruck gasp and even Dave felt a shiver run up his spine.  Even at night, the falls were beautiful, the glimmering lights from the city just across the water setting the water aflame with light.  The two boys embraced, sharing a long, passionate kiss.

“This is all so surreal,” John whispered tentatively.

“How so?” Dave ran his fingers over John’s cheek, staring endlessly into the deep azure pools that were his lover’s eyes.

“That I would be standing here at two in the morning kissing you?” John blushed, “That we’re being hunted because my dad and your brother are secret government agents?  That we’re less than a hundred feet from another country?  I dunno, take your pick.”

“I’ve got my pick right here,” Dave pulled John’s face closer.

“Lame,” the dark haired boy rolled his eyes before launching into another kissing spree, “Cheesy yet romantic.”

They boys spent the next half hour gazing at the falls, reading the signs describing the history of the area, and several bouts of impassioned kissing.  When John shivered, Dave took it as a sign that it was time for them to leave.  Calling for a cab, the two traipsed back across to the mainland to where they had been dropped off.  A cab sat waiting for them and John couldn’t help but smile as the same driver from earlier greeted them with a warm hello.  The drive back to their hotel was quiet as the two just cuddled sleepily in the back seat.  Tipping the man generously once more, the couple was glad to reach their room.  Dave knew he was too tired to fulfill all the sexual fantasies he had concocted earlier and was just happy when he and John stripped their clothes off and curled into bed together.  There were some sleep filled kissed passed between them and Dave even managed the energy for some lazy fondling, but in the end they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

John’s phone buzzed wildly and Dave groaned to life as the naked man in his arms squirmed to retrieve the device.  Shutting it off, he greeted his lover with a drowsy grin and a kiss.  Dave smiled up at the messy haired boy who hovered over him.

“Mornin’.”

“Good morning,” John giggled, unable to resist giving the blond a few more kisses, “How about that fine piece of Strider ass you promised me?”

“Oh my God,” Dave laughed, “You are a total charmer there, man.”

“We have an hour till we were told to be ready,” John winked, “We can shower and fuck.  Two birds with one stone.”

Dave’s cock twitched to life, “Fuck yes.  This needs to happen.”

John let himself be pulled along by the suddenly very awake and eager blond.  Dave pulled John into the bathroom, cranking on the shower before turning to devour his lover’s lips.  Pulling the dark haired boy into the tub, Dave pushed him against the wall and began kissing his way down as John let his head lull back, his fingers digging into wet locks as Dave wrapped his lips around the other boy’s dick.  John had to pull Dave only after a few moments.

“Sorry,” John panted, “Still new to this.”

“I want you to fuck me,” Dave took John’s earlobe into his mouth and sucked on it.

“I-I don’t know that I’ll last,” the dark haired boy quivered with a moan.

“I don’t care,” the lover’s kissed, their bodies pressed together under the steaming water, “Even if it’s only for a moment, I need you inside me.  Wow, that sounded stupidly cliché.  Forget I said that.  I can’t believe I…”

“Shut it,” John growled, turning Dave around and pulling the blonde’s ass up against his throbbing erection, “Just ride my dick already.”

Dave had to keep himself from cumming on the spot.  John’s sudden aggressiveness was sending shockwaves of pleasure right to Dave’s groin.  Reaching for the bottle of cheap shampoo the hotel provided, Dave squirt a liberal amount onto his fingers and quickly stuck them up his ass.  Hissing as the soap stung him inside and out, Dave forced himself to relax, reminding himself that it was what he wanted.  Slicking up John’s dick, Dave reached behind himself and lined the other boy’s dick up.  The blond nearly passed out as the dark haired boy’s cock slid in too quickly, the combination of the shampoo and the stretching girth sending arcs of pain racing to his head.  Without thinking, Dave jammed himself down hard onto John’s dick, burying the other boy deep inside him.  The pain vanished, only to be replaced by overwhelming pleasure as John’s cock rubbed against that warm spot deep inside the blond. 

John’s hands flew to Dave’s hips and gripped tightly as he swore, “Fuck!  Fuck, Dave!  I’m not gonna last.  I’m gonna cum.”

“Then fuck me hard and fast,” Dave ordered through gritted teeth.

The dark haired boy didn’t need to be told twice.  The movements were fast and wild.  Dave experienced more pain with each retraction, but that served only to intensify the pleasure every time John slammed back into him.  With a moan that boarded on a shout, Dave clenched up as stars shot behind his eyes and cum rocket from him like never before.  John’s thrust’s turned shallow and Dave felt his insides being filled with warm ropes of John’s release.

The two boys stabilized each other and shakily slid down the wall to the floor of the shower, panting and spent as the water splashed over them.  Dave cringed as he felt the quickly cooling liquid pushing at his entrance before finally releasing it.  He was glad the nothing but the white liquid escaped.  He would’ve been mortified if their first time had resulted in a gross mess.  It took several minutes for them to regain the strength to stand, and they both were still wobbly at best.  Dave felt a burning pain that he knew wouldn’t be quick to go away, but it still made him smile.

After that, their movement and motions were tender as they washed each other.  Caressing the other’s skin with soapy hands, massaging conditioner into hair, drying each other off, every movement accentuated with kisses.  Once they were dressed and packed, the waited for their guardians to collect them for the day’s adventures. 

When the knock came, Mr. Egbert’s voice called through the door, “You boys ready?”

John turned to Dave with a smile, “With you by my side, I’m ready to face the world.”

“So fucking cheesy,” Dave laughed and kisses his lover happily.


	13. Chapter 13

The mood in the truck was electric.  From the minute he saw them, Dave noticed how Mr. Egbert and Bro looked tired and not the least bit worried, save for the little knowing wink Bro shot him in the elevator.  As they pulled onto the highway, Mr. Ebert informed them it was about 4 hours to their destination.  Dave couldn’t help but notice the change in his usual tone and even John gave a confused look forward but remained silent.  After the first hour passed in silence, Dirk withdrew his phone and put it to his ear, noticeably impatient.  He lowered the phone and mumbled to Mr. Egbert.

“Josh, she’s not answering,” Dave felt a knot form in his stomach.

Pulling out his own phone, Dave quickly pulled up his pesterchum app and send Rose a quick message.

TG: hey you ok

Putting his phone back, he waited patiently for a response.  He hadn’t said anything when the name Roxy first came up, but he figured who they meant.  When the surname Lalond surfaced, Dave confirmed that Rose’s mother had something to do with it all.  He found it odd that two of his closest friend’s parents were involved with his brother and this organization, but then again nothing surprised him at this point.  When the second hour turned, Dirk again withdrew his phone.  This time, when he seemed to not get an answer he slammed his fist into his leg and growled.

“I can’t get there much faster without drawing attention to ourselves, Dirk,” Mr. Egbert soothed, though Dave could see the worry that painted the man’s face and watched as the speedometer increased a little.

When the third hour hit with no response to Dirk’s call, Mr. Egbert again increased speed and Dirk made no show to hide as he pulled out armaments and prepared them.  Dave’s phone suddenly buzzed to life and he drew it out quickly, fumbling with it as he pulled up pesterchum and clicked on the message from Rose.

TT: the frog has leapt

TT: the mice are free in the maze

“What the fuck?” Dave swore aloud.

When the three other men in the car gave him an inquisitive look he explained, “I messaged Rose a few hours ago and she just sent back The Frog Has Leapt and The Mice Are Free In The Maze.”

The car accelerated with a roar as Dirk pulled out more guns and began passing them back to the boys as Mr. Egbert explained, “It’s code.  Roxy and Rose are in trouble.  Their house has been held and Agents are waiting for us.  That’s what the first part meant.  The Frog has leapt.  A trap.  However she gave us a method by which to rescue them.  The Mice are free in the Maze.  There’s a biogenic lab nearby that is connected to the Lalond estate.  We go in through there.”

Pulling off onto a gravel access road, the two boys linked fingers and held them tightly together as Dirk ran down the plan, “This will be very dangerous.  These men will try to kill you.  Stay out of sight.  Stay behind us.  Do as you’re ordered, and we’ll all live through this, alright?”

John and Dave nodded their understanding even as their fingers tightened.  Thick tress whipped past the truck, splaying them in dark green light.  Suddenly the trees ended and a beautiful sun shone down on a vast complex of white buildings, surrounded by a barbed wire fence.  A black car sat near the main gate, a man with a gun and sunglasses dressed in a black suit stood by.  Dirk kicked open his door, stood and braced himself, half hanging out the door as the vehicle roared forward, and with deadly accuracy took out the dark figure with a single shot, a spray of blood painting the ground near him.  Sliding back in, Dirk didn’t bother to close his door as Mr. Egbert brought the car to a stop alongside the black Audi A8L.

Dave swallowed the bile that rose in his throat at the sight of the dead man, blood oozing from his skull.  John didn’t look.  Couldn’t look, Dave assumed.  John was still innocent to all of this.  Dave had already killed one if not more.  But these men would kill him given the same chance.  Kill Dirk.  Kill John.  And now they had Rose and her mother, possibly already dead.  That pushed the bile down and replaced it with a calm steadiness as his brief training kicked in.  Hand to the side of his pistol, finger ready on the trigger, he followed his brother silently, John and Mr. Egbert pulling up the rear.

A cargo bay door stood open.  Dirk put up a fist and the party stopped.  After a quick sweep, it was deemed safe to proceed.  The laboratory was large and still functioning, but wherever they went there didn’t seem to be a single person.  Dave felt a chill run up his spine at how eerily empty the place was.  Dirk lead the way down corridor after corridor, swinging around every corner ready for a firefight.  The suspense was agonizing.  With every halt, Dave’s mind raced to what he would do if his brother was hit, if he died, if John died.  Every pause seemed to last eons, every held breath torture.  When they reached a lined metallic door, Dave sighed with relief as his brother’s posture relaxed slightly.

“Alright,” the instructions were muted, still wary of detection, “This leads to the mausoleum outside the Lalond estate.  Josh and I will go, you two are to wait here.”

“Let us come,” Dave spoke up.

“What did I tell you about following orders?” Dirk scolded.

“What if you need cover?” Dave rationalized.

“Our friend is in there too,” John chimed in.

Mr. Egbert looked uneasy as Dirk frowned, “I can’t ask you boys to do that.”

“You didn’t,” the younger blond felt his chest clench even as he tried desperately to push all the dark thoughts from his mind, “We volunteered.”

Dirk looked to his partner before stepping closer to Dave, his voice dropping and for the first time, an emotion painted his words like Dave had never heard, “Please don’t make me do this.  If anything happened to you, I couldn’t live with myself.”

“Without you, I’m nothing,” Dave responded in kind.

“You have him,” Dave’s heart broke at the dejected tone.

“Living half a life isn’t living at all,” Dave could feel the surge of Dirk’s palpitations, the restrained urge to wrap his arms around the younger blond and kiss him stupid, “I’m too far in to back out now.”

“If things get hairy, you get the fuck out,” Dirk growled, “If you die, I’ll drag your sorry ass back from hell and beat you back to death myself.”

“Ditto,” for the first time in hours Dave felt the knot in his stomach loosen.

“Stay close,” Dirk straightened up, his voice returning to a commanding tone.

A pressure closed around Dave as his brother opened the steel door, like his insides were screaming at him but he blocked them all out and focused on everything he’d learned.  This was real, the lives of others, of those he loved, depended on his complete attention.  The corridor was dark, nearly pitch black save for the red safety lights every few yards which cast a blood red glow on the stark concrete.  Whereas the laboratory seemed to take forever to trek through, it wasn’t long before the underground corridor ended in a short set of ascending ladder rungs. 

Dirk was careful to push the block aside as quietly as possible, balanced precariously on a rather rusty looking metal rung.  Climbing from the passageway, he signaled the all clear and the other three joined him in the tight space.  It was a mausoleum, built for what appeared to be a cat.  Dave’s mind flashed to a story Rose had told him about her beloved pet, but he pushed it away as the matter at hand was far more pressing.  Dirk silently signaled through the grate that covered the tomb to the house as Mr. Egbert edged in front with Dirk, a sniper rifle pulled up from the strap on his back.  Dirk could see them.  Two black figures on the roof, armed and searching the surrounding terrain.

“I’ve got the shot,” Mr. Egbert barely breathed, “I can only tag one.”

“Wait,” Dave stepped up and Dirk’s hand flew up to push his brother back.

“Stay back!” Dirk hissed.

“You’ll give away our position,” Dave retorted, thinking on the fly, recalling every spy movie he’d ever watched, “You have to distract them so we can get in.”

“There’s no ‘we’ to this, little man,” Dirk’s tone was muted but the sternness wasn’t lost on the younger blond.

“You can’t go in alone and we need Mr. Egbert to cover us,” Dave whispered, “You’ve taught me all about stealth and the art of the ninja, or was all that training just bullshit?”

Dirk’s jaw worked, but before he could argue Mr. Egbert stepped in, “The boy has a point.  I’m better back here, Dirk.”

“Fine,” the older man resigned, “But what kind of distraction can we get?”

“There,” John pointed to a series of metal coils on a ledge on the side of the house, “The power cables.  Take those out and it’ll short the house and draw their attention.”

“That’a boy,” Mr. Egbert smiled as he leveled his riffle.

The weapon was nearly silent, and any sound it made was covered by the generator exploding in a hail of sparks and smoke.  The two men on the room raised their weapons and went in the direction on the commotion.  Steeling himself, Dave followed quickly behind his brother across the open lawn.  The younger man let his breath go as the shadow of the house fell across them.  Dirk pulled him quickly behind the back door as it swung open and three more armed men sprang out and headed towards the sparking generator.  They never saw the two men whip around the door and disappear into the darkened house.

A familiar voice reached Dave’s ears, “Bet that’s your boys comin’ to get you now.”

A chill ran down Dave’s spine.  It was a voice that had been very near to his ear and etched into his memory, mostly because of the gun that had been pressed into his temple at the time.  A sweet voice answered the unseen man, full of menace.

“Then you should be shitting your pants, Droog,”   The woman retorted, “After all, wasn’t it some old lady that got you last time?”

The sound of a slap made Dave’s teeth clench as Dirk peeked around the corner.  With a nod, he invited Dave to move in.  The blond didn’t hesitate.  The man had his back turned to them, his crisp black suit ruffled only from where his hand was raised from the momentum of the slap he’d just administered.  The woman who’d be on the other end of the abuse straightened back up.  She was bound to a chair, her white and pink dress hugging and accentuating her curves, her blond hair shaped perfectly and bouncing as she squared her shoulders.  If she saw Dave and Dirk, she made no move to give it away.

“You’ll regret that,” She mused, “revenge is sweet.”

“Oh yeah?” The man blustered, “And who’ll carry that out for you?”

“Me,” Droog whirled around only to be met with a swift kick to the nuts and a right hook to the jaw that sent him tumbling unconscious to the floor.

“You’re late, Strider,” The woman addressed Dirk as he rushed to bind the unconscious man.

“Always a pleasure, Roxy,” Dirk thickened his drawl a bit with a wink to the woman.

“Thanks, Dave,” Roxy stood and shook out her hands as Dave finished untying her.

“Ma’am,” the younger blond followed suit of his brother and laid into his accent for effect.

“Be a pair of dears and go rescue my daughter,” Roxy purred as she circled the bound and unconscious man on the floor, “She’s up in her room.”

The brothers took the stairs as stealthily as cats.  Finding a sole guard peering out the window to see the hubbub, they dispatched him with a hit to the back of the head.  Rose sat quietly on her bed, he hands bound behind her back and her feet tied clumsily to the foot of her bed.

“Ah, Dave,” She smiled, “I see my message reached you. As you can see, they didn’t appreciate my meddling.”

“Told ya that’d get ya in trouble someday,” The two teens shared a welcoming smile as Rose was freed.

As the three returned below, Dave had to laugh at the site that greeted them.  In their absence, Roxy had taken the unconscious man and tied him to the very chair she had occupied moments ago.  His pants were missing and he now sported a frilly pair of pink panties with a little white kitten on the crotch area.  Dave didn’t want to speculate where they had come from.  The man’s own underwear was unceremoniously stuffed into his mouth and tapped there with duct tape,  and black sharpie penises covered his face.

“Josh and his boy are covering us from the crypt,” Dirk explained as Roxy dug through a nearby cabinet and produced a riffle and two handguns, “We’re gonna be hard pressed to get out of here.”

“Six well trained agents should be enough for the rabble that’s out there,” Roxy inspected her weapon and tossed the other arms to her daughter.

“The kids don’t count,” Dirk frowned.

“Speak for yourself, Mr. Strider,” Rose’s attitude echoed that of her mother’s earlier tone as she cocked the guns and checked the magazines.

When Dirk gave her a questioning glance, Roxy just shrugged, “A girl has to know how to defend herself.”

Reaching the door they’d entered through, Dirk whirled on the other three, “Dave, no matter what happens, you get Rose and John and get in that truck and drive as far the fuck away as you can.  Don’t stop, whatever you do.”

“There’s a safe house just outside Montreal,” Roxy added, “You remember where, Rose?”

“Yes, mother,” the girl sighed.

“Go there,” Dirk continued, “If we’re not there in twelve hours, disappear.  You know the drill, Dave.”

Roxy handed her daughter a small pink bag, “Passports and everything you’ll need, sweetie.”

“Mom,” Rose rolled her eyes, “I’ll see you there.”

“Let’s move out,” Dirk rushed out the back door as Dave took a deep breath and launched himself after his brother. 

Then all hell broke loose.


	14. Chapter 14

Almost immediately bullets were flying.  The men who’d rushed from the house to inspect the commotion from the generator where returning inside and were only a few yards away when the Striders burst from the door.  Dirk killed two before pushing Dave back into the house as a hail of bullets chased after them.  Rifle shots resounded and a scream followed by a sickening thud spoke to Mr. Egbert’s coverage from the tomb.  As the gunfire switched to the stone monument, Dirk and Dave swung around the door frame and let loose more rounds before ducking back inside, the doorframe splintering under the hail of more bullets.

“Incoming,” Rose whirled to face in the house and shot two agents who came racing down the hall.

The two blond men again returned fire to suppress the onslaught outside which had again turned to the mausoleum.  Roxy stepped up next to Dave and gently pushed him aside as Rose took out another armed man who rounded the corner from inside the house.  When Dirk returned fire for a third time Roxy spoke calmly.

“We’ll have to make a run for it,” She produced a round metal object with a smirk.

Dave swallowed hard, memory flooding back into him of that first fateful night and their flight from all he had ever known.  The devastation, the concussion, the bullet that left a scar in his shoulder.  Dave knew what she was holding.  A grenade.  As the gunfire outside lulled once again, Roxy slipped around the door, pulled the pin, and tossed.  Ducking back inside, Dave closed his eyes as the concussive explosion shook him, pieces of shrapnel whizzing past the door with cries of the death they carried.  Then everything turned into slow motion.

Dirk was the first out the door, his pistol firing in rapid succession as he shuffled his way towards the tomb.  Roxy went after him, her rifle leveled on her shoulder as she sent out round after round.  As Rose sent another shot down the hall, Dave grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door.  The ground outside was a complete battle field.  At least seven agents lay dead, but more where coming around the house.  Many more.  Dave couldn’t count the number of guns pointed at him.  He didn’t want to.  As he and Rose raced towards the stonework and escape, bullets whizzed past them with deadly screams.

As men rounded the other side of the house, Dave and Rose turned quickly and leveled three with well-aimed shots.  It seemed like years before they reached the relative safety of the tomb.  There they continued to fire wildly as Roxy and Dirk dove in after them.  A bullet zinged in and ricochet off the walls, chipping off stone.  Then there was a shout, and blood.  Mr. Egbert collapsed in a spray of red, the right side of his chest oozing.

“Go!” Dirk shouted pushing Dave towards the exit as more bullets pinged off the walls.

Dave froze.  He looked into his brothers eyes.  Deep Amber.  He remembered seeing those eyes gleam in their many strifes upon the roof.  The way the crinkled around the edges when he smiled.  How they could make his heart stop with their cold look, or make it melt with the mostly unspoken love.  He saw his skin, still taunt with youth, but beginning to show the small dents and fades of age.  How old was his brother?  His golden hairs showed a few silvery strands wisping their way in.  His lips were pink.  Dave wanted to kiss those lips again.  He remembered the first time they’d fucked.  Dave thought he was raping his brother, a gun held firmly against the other’s head.  But he knew Dirk had let him.  Hell, the safety hadn’t been off and Dirk had known it and still let it happen.  He remembered the first time they had made love, the same night.  Tender kissing, new feelings, and the thought that it was fleeting had made it all the more precious.  And now it was fleeting.  This could be the last time they ever saw one another.  And they both knew it.

Dave was determined to stay and fight and probably die along with his brother.  But then there was John.  Didn’t John mean the world to him as well?  John was also his lover.  He was fragile and the most green of the three teens, not used to any sort of fighting.  He needed Dave to protect him.  And hadn’t he told Mrs. Lalonde that he’d take care of Rose?  Not that she seemed to need taken care of, but didn’t she also have a special place in his heart?  As the second slowly ticked past, Dave made his decision.  Grabbing John’s arm, he pulled the boy towards the escape route, Rose quickly behind them.

And then they were racing.  John kept yelling about his father and even tried to resist Dave at first till the blonde yelled back at him that they had to go.  As they burst from the corridor and into the lab, an explosion rang behind them and Dave felt his stomach drop like a stone.  His feet carried on as John and Rose thudded along beside them.  A thrumming noise filtered in through the lab and Dave recognized it as a helicopter.  All the color drained from him as he realized there could be no escape with air support. 

As they reached the bay where they had entered the lab, the three cautiously peeked out.  The sounds of gunfire where distant, but still plentiful as smoke rose from the house beyond.  A black helicopter hovered above where they had been, it’s tail towards the trio.  With a mad dash, they made for the truck, reaching it in safety.  As Dave got in and fired up the engine, Rose pulled a rifle from the car of the agent who lay dead at the gate.  Dave yelled at her to get in as she leveled the gun and aimed it at the helicopter.  There was a second of hesitation before she squeezed the trigger. 

Dave held his breath for the split second it took for the bullet to cross the distance.  When it hit, he couldn’t believe what he saw.  When the chopper blades tore apart and the aircraft plummeted to the ground like a rock, he thought he was dreaming.  When a fiery explosion sent flames and shrapnel high into the air, Dave decided to never fuck with Rose.  Ever.

Rose finally hopped into the truck and Dave floored it, peeling out as he raced down the access road, his eyes constantly in the rearview mirror for the pursuit he knew was coming.  The others must have been waiting for it too because they were quiet.  After an hour of driving, however, the tension suddenly lifted.  They weren’t being pursued. 

A sudden sob shook John’s form.  Dave could tell the boy tried to suppress it but it only gave way to another and another and another.  Reaching his arm across the blond pulled him across the seat and John sobbed into his shoulder, even as tears began to rise in his own eyes.  When Rose’s soft cried began as she leaned up from the back and rested against John’s shoulder, Dave couldn’t contain his own tears.  The three teens cried at their lot as they drove into the unknown.


	15. Chapter 15

The truck cab was quiet as they trio approached the Canadian border.  They had taken great care to stow all their firearms and clean themselves up so as not to draw suspicion.  When they pulled up to the border guard station, the man inspected their passports lazily and waved them on in to the country with a rehearsed line welcoming them that sounded more like he’d rather have been anywhere else.  Dave’s stomach growled at him so he did the most sensible thing he could think of, he pulled into the nearest McDonalds.

The three hoped out of the truck and silently entered the fast food franchise, ordered their meals and sat down to eat.  It was when John came with a tray piled high with food that the tension broke.  It started with an exchanging of glances, a raised eyebrow, and a defensive look from the bespectacled boy.  Then a grin creased the sides of Dave’s mouth.  Rose stifled a giggle.  And then the three were laughing.  Just three teenagers laughing at how hungry one of them was.  It was the most normal thing Dave could remember doing in a long time.  Then the tears started again and Dave pulled John into the booth with him and soothed them away, ignoring the sideways glances of other guests.

The three ate in relative peace, save Dave refused to move his arm from around John who snuggled up into the blonde remorselessly.  Rose didn’t say a word, which was almost more annoying to Dave than if she was drilling him with twenty bazillion questions.  She simply let a faint smile hang on her lips as she picked at a salad.  When they had eaten their fill, they returned to road.  It was getting on sunset when they arrived at an empty warehouse down the end of a broken, abandoned road.  Rose tried to explain that the property was owned by her mother and wasn’t tied to any agency, but Dave was insistent they double check.

Pistols in hand, the three scoured every nook and cranny until they were convinced they were alone.  They set themselves up in an upper office that overlooked the nearly empty warehouse below, with one window to the street.  There were crates of supplies pushed against the far wall, and they managed to locate an inflatable raft which they lined with thermal blankets and formed a sort of nest which Rose collapsed into and fell asleep almost immediately.  Dave drug an old office chair to the outside window and stationed himself on first watch.  John peered out the window and sighed.

“Get some sleep,” Dave tugged at the hem of John’s shirt and the dark haired boy let a sad, tired smile grace his lips momentarily before bending down to kiss his lover.

Their lips lingered for a long moment before John reluctantly pulled away, stumbling through the now darkened room to settle down next to Rose.  Dave watched the two sleep for a while before returning his attention to the window.  His mind replayed the gun battle.  His brother’s parting words echoed in his mind.

“If we’re not there in twelve hours, disappear.”

Dave checked his phone.  It had been seven.  They still had time.  Dave watched the clock on his phone beat the seconds past.  Agonizing flash by agonizing flash.  Eight hours.  The sky outside had turned to a city glow purple and orange with a few bright stars forcing their way through the light pollution.  Nine hours.  Dave looked for a shooting star, something to wish upon.  He saw airplanes flying by and thought of the song lyric and laughed at how stupid it was, but wished upon it all the same.  Ten hours.  Dave’s eyes grew heavy.  He tried to force them to stay open, but he was fighting an uphill battle.  Then lights appeared at the end of the road, slowly creeping down the broken pavement. 

“Rose!” Dave whispered harshly, “John, get up!”

The two roused slowly as Dave urged them awake, “Someone’s coming!”

Rose was the first to come to clarity and she grabbed a firearm and edged her way to the window, “Black car.  Agents, most likely.”

That woke John up and he took grabbed his weapon and sided up next to Rose, “What do we do?”

The car turned off its head lights as it approached and Dave swallowed, “We grab our bags and go out through the roof.”

“Shouldn’t we stay and fight?” John growled and Dave could see the urge for revenge clearly painting his lover’s face.

“No,” Rose reasoned, “We just need to disappear.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” John edged towards his bag as the car came to a stop directly beneath them.

Dave signaled Rose back from the window and was about to join her when an unmistakable mop of blond hair limped out the driver’s side.  A wave of emotion crashed over Dave and he bolted out of the room and down the stairs, shouting as he ran through the empty space and towards the door, his brother’s name like a chorus from his lips.

“Dirk!” Dave burst from the door and sped into his brother’s waiting arms.

“Hey little man,” The older blond held his brother tightly against him, “So uncool of you to be all huggin’ on me.”

Dave cried and laughed at the same time.  Roxy got out of the car next and Rose was in her arms in milliseconds.  John stood at the door to the warehouse, his breath caught as he waited for another door to open.  Seconds passed as the others remained oblivious to the quickly crumpling young man in the doorway.  Then a weak yet commanding voice issued from within the car.

“Will someone open my damn door so I can see my boy?”

John raced to the car and practically tore the door off the hinges. 

Mr. Egbert was pale even in the dim light of the car.  His right chest and shoulder were covered in bloody rags tied together, and his breathing was shallow, each breath causing a wince of pain to race across his features.  Dave pulled away from his brother and looked from the wounded man in the car to his brother’s grim face.

“Let’s move him inside,” Roxy offered.

There was a brief, halfhearted argument, but Dirk finally put his foot down and Mr. Egbert had to allow himself to be carried in gently as possible.  Dave managed the legs while John and Dirk supported his torso.  They got him in through the door where Roxy led them to a small conference room where she had hastily prepped up a table with some blankets and a pillow. 

Once they had him situated, Dirk took Dave and shooed out Roxy and Rose to allow John and his father some time alone.  The two men found a bathroom and Dirk peeled off his shirt, suppressing a wince where blood had dried it to his skin.  Dave was surprised when he turned the taps and they worked, even more so when the water turned warm rather quickly.  He grabbed a few paper towels and soaked them, brushing his brother’s hands away as he inspected the man’s torso, dabbing at dried blood and sighing with relief that all his wounds seemed to be scrapes and cuts and no bullet holes.  A particularly tender spot on his left side made the older man groan.

“I think a shell grazed me there.”

“What happened?”  Dave tried to sound nonchalant, but it was eating him up inside to know how they had managed to escape.

“After Josh… er, Mr. Egbert got hit and you guys got out of there, Roxy tossed another grenade to try an clear us some room to escape.  The plan was to be right behind you but Josh’s injury was pretty bad.  We were well in the tunnel when the helicopter showed up.  An agent or two had braved in behind us and were holding us down pretty hard when the chopper smashed into the crypt and sent a fireball our way.  We finally managed to get out but you guys were long gone by then, so we lifted the agent’s car from the gate.”

“Ouch, watch it dude,” Dirk grumbled as Dave apologized but continued to prod at bloody spots to clean them up, “So anyway we were in no shape to cross the border properly.  Fortunately Roxy knows as few ways around these obstructions.  The damn ferry took forever.  I thought we were going to lose Josh for a few minutes.”

“Is he going to be alright, now?”  Dave could only imagine what that would do to John if his Dad didn’t pull through.

Dirk hesitated, “I don’t know, little man.  I don’t know.”

Dave nodded grimly and returned to cleaning his brother up.  When he was satisfied with the work he had done, he let himself be pulled into his brother’s lap and lavished kisses on the older blond, the final one had their tongues sparing and set off fireworks behind Dave’s eyes.  With a disappointed and tired sigh, Dave let the kiss go at last and stood to stretch.

“Let’s go get some sleep,” Dirk suggested and Dave couldn’t help but agree, sleep sounded amazing.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, it's been a crazy holiday season!

Morning sun slanted in through the dingy bay window as Dave’s eyes fluttered open.  Mrs. Lalond had them move in some roll out bunks she had down in a storage room and the Striders had bedded down in one of the conference rooms.  Dave rolled over and took in the sight of his brother, asleep on the bed only a few feet from his own.  Dirk’s hair glowed in the light that spilled in, glowing like a halo around his head.  His breathing was even and deep, peaceful and serene and innocent.  Dave smiled, he liked seeing his brother this way.  Vulnerable.  Careful to be as quiet as he could, Dave moved off his bed and across the room.  Careful, as to not incur the reaction he was sure his brother had from his years of training, Dave bent down and gently, softly pressed his lips to his brother’s.

Dirk stirred and mumbled against his brother’s lips, “Five more minutes, man.  Then I’ll fuck your brains out.  Promise.”

Dave couldn’t help but laugh as he pressed one last kiss into his brother before leaving the man, sighing as he fell back asleep.  Grabbing his duffle, Dave dug out a new shirt and boxers and quickly changed into fresh clothes before slipping on his jeans and sneakers, making extra sure to quietly close the door behind him.  The room the three teens had crashed in at the start of the night had since become the common room where Dave wandered in to find the two women of their crew sitting and eating out of small green plastic pouches.

“MREs?” Dave quirked an eyebrow.

“They’re quite delicious, actually,” Rose quipped before delicately sticking a forkful of what looked like eggs into her mouth.

Grabbing one of the packages from the table, he read the printing aloud, “Sausage, Egg, and Bell Pepper Omelet.  Huh.”

Roxy informed him how to prepare it and he was genuinely surprised at how quickly it self-heated.  When he reopened the top, the smell was pretty good and upon his first bite, he was impressed.  The eggs were definitely fake but it was hot and edible, better than what he expected.  Better than what he was used to, if he was honest.

“Where’s John?” The boy had been in Dave’s dreams and he knew he needed to be with the boy; or rather that John would need him.

The women were both very quiet for a moment before Roxy answered, “With his father.”

Dave contemplated the prospect before he ventured his question shakily, “And his Father?”

“Alive,” Roxy’s words lifted a weight from Dave’s chest, though he suddenly noticed the dark circles barely concealed under thick make-up as Roxy smiled tiredly.

Dave nodded and quietly finished his meal before excusing himself from the room.  Before he left, Rose gave him a subdued yet reassuring smile and he nodded his thanks as he went to find his boyfriend.  The walk down the hallways seemed longer than he remembered.  When he came to the room, Dave found the door slightly ajar.  Lingering outside, Dave listened to ensure he wasn’t intruding on any father son bonding ‘I’m about to die sport’ moments.  Hearing nothing, the blond carefully pushed open the door. 

Dried blood caked on the table surrounding Mr. Egbert who lay covered in warm blankets.  He was pale as a ghost and for a long moment Dave held his breath, fearing the man was already dead.  But then his chest moved and Dave joined him in a relieved exhale.  Continuing his survey of the room, Dave finally spied John curled in a pile of blankets, stretched over three office chairs that had been arranged to sort of resemble a bed.  Kneeling down next to his lover, Dave took a moment to gently run his fingers through John’s soft, messy brown hair.  Just like Dirk, he looked so innocent while sleeping.  Not that John didn’t look innocent while awake, his eyes always sparkling with wonder and excitement. 

Slowly, the boy began to shift awake till his blue eyes opened and searched unseeing till the haze of sleep was lifted and he was able to blink away the grogginess to recognize Dave.  Then he smiled.  Dave thought he could get lost in that smile forever.  Unable to stop himself, Dave leaned in and pressed his lips to John’s who hummed in reply.  Mr. Egbert abruptly coughing broke the moment and John nearly pushed Dave off as he scrambled to his father’s side.  The man only grimaced a bit before returning to his level breathing.  John turned to Dave and apologized.

“Sorry, sort of freak out when he does that.”

“I can see that,” Dave bit back a snarky comment, knowing his jabs wouldn’t help the current situation.

“Sorry,” John repeated, casting his eyes to the floor.

“Let’s get you out of here for a bit,” Dave coaxed.

“But what if he wakes up?” John looked back worriedly to his father, “What if he needs me? What if he…he…”

“He won’t,” Dave reassured him, “John, you need to get out of here. Just for a little while.  Let’s go for a walk.”

“No,” John protested defensively, “Someone’s got to make sure.”

“I can see my arrival is most fortuitous,” Dave felt a chill run down his spine as Rose’s voice materialized behind him, he was going to owe her more than he wanted to think about.

“Rose, I need to…” John attempted but the young woman cut him off.

“Get out of here? Yes, I believe Dave can help you with that.”

“But Rose,” John tried once more but lavender eyes leveled a cold glare and the boy was silent at once.

Dave nodded his thanks once more and guided John by the shoulders out of the room.  It wasn’t till they were out of the warehouse and walking along the waterfront that ran behind the warehouses that John finally let his shoulders relax and took in a deep breath.  The two didn’t speak, just strolled along the crumbling cement barriers and broken pavement.  Dave picked up a flatter piece of stone and skipped it across the water where it bounced several times before sinking below the murky surface.  The two wandered along the row of abandoned buildings until they found a side door hanging loosely from its hinges.  With just a little force, the barrier fell away with a dull clang and a cloud of rust and dirt. 

Sunlight slanted in from holes in the roof casting jagged shadows on rusted machinery and broken shelves.  The two boys carefully picked their way through the graveyard of metal and plastic, stopping occasionally to examine different pieces of debris before moving on.  Ducking through a doorway, they found themselves in a small enclosure filled with cubicles and half rotted carpet.  Testing one of the desks for stability, John finally hopped up on the somewhat clean metal and sighed heavily.  Dave took position in front of him and looked over his boyfriend.  A wave of grief rolled over John as tears sprung to his eyes.  Dave wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and pulled the dark haired boy tight into his chest as sobs wracked John’s form.  They stayed locked in the embrace for a long time until John’s sobs had faded into slight hiccups and they stopped altogether.  The blond finally released the boy in his arms and pulled back at arm’s length, red eyes smiling down into watery blue ones. 

Stooping down, suddenly, Dave connected their lips and John pushed back hungrily.  Hands massaged necks and backs, fingers ran through hair and danced across chests as tongues sparred in a frenzy of sudden need.  John pulled Dave down on top of him, sprawling across the desk as the blond ground his hips into his lover.  John swallowed a moan as Dave nipped at his neck, letting his teeth graze over the thrumming pulse he found there.  John pulled the back of his hand over him mouth as Dave pressed his bulge deliberately harder against John’s.

“Don’t,” Dave commanded, “I want to hear you.”

“Dave,” John gasped, his back arching, “Please.”

Dave’s fingers couldn’t move fast enough. Tearing his shirt off, he tugged at John’s until he heard the fabric creak in protest and a few strands audibly snapped.  Hooking his fingers roughly under the denim and cotton, Dave yanked John’s boxers and jeans off as one, practically ripping his shoes off as well.  Jamming his own pants around his knees, he pressed his body again into the boy under him, rutting against him in a desperate need for friction.  John continually moaned his name, each time sending waves of electricity bolting down his body and making his cock pulse. 

“Dave,” John panted, “Lube in my pocket.  Fuck me.”

Dave stopped and quirked a smile at John, “Here?”

“I’ve waited too long as is,” John spoke soberly, “I don’t want to wait for anything anymore.”

Dave just nodded and reached for where he’d thrown John’s clothes.  Finding a small packet of lubricant shoved into one pocket, Dave withdrew it and tore it open with his teeth, slathering the cold get onto his fingers before lifting John’s legs so they rested on the blonde’s shoulders.   With a prodding finger, Dave’s cock pulsed harder when John moaned at the finger playing at his entrance.  Popping in first one, then two fingers, Dave played with his lover’s hole, stretching and teasing it and making the dark haired boy writhe in delight.  Dave was so close to busting that he had to stop and put some of the cold lube on his own cock to shock him back to stability.  Lining up, Dave took a deep breath before pushing into John.

John’s eyes screwed shut and his jaw clenched until the head of Dave’s cock popped through the ring of constricting muscles, then his eyes burst open and he took in a deep, shocked breath before releasing a long, low moan that even made Dave shiver with delight.  Slowly seating himself fully into his lover, Dave made sure to let John adjust before he pulled back.  Moving his legs to wrap around the blonde’s waist, John panted Dave’s name.

“Don’t stop,” the boy bit his lip, “F-fuck me.  Oh, shit.  So good, Dave.  Love you.  So… good!”

Dave picked up the pace as he ran his hands up is own torso, his skin warm and electric under his own touch until his fingers ran up into his hair where he pulled his own head back, the stretch in his chest amazing as his hips pounded into his boyfriend.  When a warm set of hands wrapped around Dave from behind, the boy only jumped slightly, though never breaking stride as he felt a warm mouth on his neck and the new hands traced down his torso.

“Dirk,” Dave moaned as he leaned back into his brother, still pounding into John as hard as he could.

“It’s impolite to neglect your partner,” Dirk’s voice was deep as he reached around his brother’s undulating hips and wrapped a firm hand around John’s bobbing dick.

The dark haired boy moaned and opened his eyes to look up at his lover.  His eyes bugged slightly when he saw who was standing behind him and who’s hand was on his dick, but a few more pumps and thrusts and John’s rational brain was silenced once more and his desire took back over.  All too soon John began squeezing harder on Dave’s invading member and moaned.

“I’m gonna cum. Fuck, Dave, I can’t hold it.”

“Fuck him harder, little man,” Dirk’s timbre was so low and silky that Dave shuddered as he watched his brother’s hand pick up the pace on John’s pulsating dick.

With a shout, John was cumming.  Thick, creamy ropes of spunk coated Dirk’s hand as John’s body seized and writhed.  The tightness and sounds were too much for Dave and he barely pulled out in time to coat John’s cock with his own jizz.  For a time, the only sound was the slow return of John and Dave’s normal breathing.  Then the awkwardness seemed to get to John and he wiggled a bit till he could sit up.  Dave looked at his boyfriend, trying to gauge his reaction as blue eyes passed between the brothers and back again.  Then as if to show his answer, John leaned in and kissed Dave before extending a hand to Dirk’s cheek.  The older blond chuckled and leaned over his younger brother and pressed his lips warmly to John’s before turning and kissing Dave as well.

The three cleaned up in silence, using John’s undershirt for most of the mess before discarding it with the debris of the fallen machinery and leaving the warehouse once more abandoned.  Returning to their base of operations, the three met up with Roxy and Rose in the common room.  Upon their entrance, the older woman stood and addressed the three men.

“We need to talk.”


	17. Chapter 17

Dave swallowed hard, a wave of guilt washing over him as terrible ideas crashed onto his mind.  They’d been caught.  Of course Roxy had the place wired, why not the whole block?  She was disgusted and was going to tell John’s dad.  John’s dad.  Oh no!  Mr. Egbert was dead for sure.  He’d succumbed to his injuries and now John was an orphan.  Before he could finish his downward spiraling thought pattern, the older woman continued.

“We need a plan,” Roxy sighed dejectedly, “I’m out of ideas.  I don’t much fancy hiding for the rest of my life.”

They were all silent for a moment before Dirk scoffed, “I know what you want me to suggest, Rox.  And you know what I’m going to say.”

“Dirk, what choice have we?” Roxy sighed again, “Look, I don’t like it any more than you, but…”

“He’s still there,” Dirk cut her off, “And so is she.  No, Roxy, I can’t go there.”

“Go where?” Dave interjected.

“There’s an is-,” the blond woman began but was cut off angrily by Dirk.

“Nowhere, little man. We’re going to figure this out here.”

“Oh will you listen to yourself?” Roxy snapped back, “Can think of anything other than your self-pity for once?”

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do, Rox,” Dirk spit, “He didn’t do it to you.  They didn’t betray you.”

“I know they didn’t,” Roxy remained calm, “They hurt you.  Badly.  But we’re out of options.  Normally I’d leave your pigheaded ass behind but we have Josh and the kids to worry about.”

Dirk made to retort but stopped, growling with frustration instead.

“Would someone mind telling me what’s going on here?”

John’s question made the room go dead quiet.  The three teens looked expectantly between the two adults who stared at each other intently.  A smirk played at the edges of Dirk’s lips, but just slight enough that only really Dave caught it.

“You opened this can of worms,” the older blond man finally spoke, “I’m going to go check on Josh.”

And with that the teens were left alone with Roxy who’s ear tips reddened ever so slightly.  When it became obvious that the man wasn’t coming back and that she wasn’t going to be able to leave without explaining herself, the woman sat down and signaled for the boys to do the same.

“When your brother and your dad and I first started out, we trained on this uncharted volcanic island in the Pacific,” Roxy explained, “We weren’t the only ones there, however, there were two other agents who trained with us.  When the time came for us to leave, the other two stayed behind, despite our best efforts to convince them otherwise.  They caused an eruption and staged the island’s total destruction so they would be off the grid, but we three knew better and I at least stay in contact with them.”

“But how is going there supposed to help us?” John pressed.

“They have some equipment that we can use to possibly lure out those responsible for our predicament,” Dave could tell the woman was leaving a lot out, “Jane has high level clearance and Jake can….”

“Who?” Dave forgot every question he had as the name reverberated in his skull.

Roxy took a breath before sighing, “Jake.”

“What’s wrong?” John could see the look of concern pass across his boyfriend’s face, but the blond shook it off quickly.

“Nothing,” Dave lied, “When can we leave for this island?”

“First thing tomorrow,” Roxy brightened up a bit, “That is if someone can convince someone else that it’s what we need to do.”

Dave rose from the table, “I’m on it.  You just get us there.”

As John stood to join him Dave turned back, “No, John.  Let me handle this.”

John sat back down dejectedly.  Without thinking, Dave swooped down and kissed John on the lips to placate him.  Suddenly aware of two other sets of eyes on them, Dave turned beat red as he slowly took in the look of utter shock on Rose’s face.  Her orchid eyes flashed to her mother, but the older woman wore a surprised yet accepting smile. Turning a shade deeper, Dave turned and absconded from the room as fast as he could without running. 

Dave had calmed down from his utterly embarrassing show of affection by the time he’d reached the temporary medical bay.  The door was wide open and Dirk was seated next to Mr. Egbert who still lay unconscious.  Dirk was staring blankly across the prone man into the wall, though Dave could tell he was far away in his mind.  When a small, glistening tear slid down his brother’s cheek, Dave felt his world shatter.  Here was the man he looked up to, the strongest man he knew, weeping.  Dave cursed this Jake, whoever he was, and made a silent vow to make the man rue whatever he’d done to his brother.

Clearing his throat softly, Dave made his presence known.  Dirk acknowledged him with a slow glance before returning to stare at the wall.  Dave stood rocking on his heels, unsure of whether it had been a sign for him to go or stay when Dirk’s voice hoarsely croaked from his throat.

“I was eighteen, fresh out of high school.  My parents had died the year before in a car wreck.  Orphans always make the best recruits,” Dirk let out a mirthless laugh, “I enlisted for the marines.  I had a knack for mechanics, particularly robotics.  I saw combat in the field, proved my worth there.  When the call came for a special assignment, I jumped at the chance.  I was shipped to this island.  That’s where I met Josh and Roxy.  Roxy is a genius when it comes to computers.  Josh is downright deadly with chemistry and biology.  There were two other’s on the team as well.  Jane, our operations coordinator, and the weapons master, Jake.”

“I fell fast and hard,” Dirk chuckled again, this time with painful memory, “I’d always kept it under wraps.  Messed around with a few buddies in the unit, but never anything serious or that would out me.  This was different.  And I got to be on a secluded island alone with him.  It took some balls.  I’d snuck behind enemy lines and sabotaged their machinery several times but getting up the nerve to tell this tanned, goofy, buck-toothed Adonis that I wanted to jump his double pistols and a wink? Well I’d rather take crawling around some towel head’s jerk off station any day.”

“Thank God for beer though,” the older blond let out a genuine laugh, “I honestly didn’t think it would work. I used to use it to ply this one hot guy in my unit when I really needed it badly, that way he could say he was drunk later.  Anyways, I managed to bribe someone into sneaking some on to one of the monthly supply crates.  I stashed it in the little refrigerator we had in the weapons testing facility and waited.  It wasn’t long before Jake and I were working together alone and I pulled it out.  I tried to be the cool kid, the rebel with connections.  Son of a bitch if it didn’t work like a charm.  Soon I was feeling a good buzz and he was drunk as shit.  It started as innuendo’s that got raunchier and raunchier till I finally made a move, grabbed the front of those stupid cargo shorts he always wore and made my intentions known.”

“I expected a pistol to the head, he was always packin’.  Maybe I expected him to run away.  I dunno, but what I wasn’t expecting was for him to slam me on the ground and pounce on top of me as hard as he did.  I lost track of how many times we fucked that first night.  Well, tried to fuck.  Whisky dick is a bitch,” Dave couldn’t help but laugh with his brother.

“Then morning came and I waited for it to get awkward,” Dirk’s disbelief was still evident as he remembered, “But it didn’t.  We even tried to go at it again, but this time I was super nervous and couldn’t perform.  He didn’t seem to mind.  I was terrified at what would happen.  I was always the boisterous one in the mess hall, but that morning I was so quiet.  I waited for the world to come crashing down, but it didn’t.  Jake didn’t spill the beans, no one knew.  Not yet anyways.  And so it continued.  Little rendezvous in the gym or the weapons lab or the jungle. I think Roxy figured it out first.  She was always supportive, though she playfully bemoaned my, and I quote, Hot Marine Ass was off the market.  But she had Josh anyways.  Josh found out too.  He practically walked in on us.  Turned right around and closed the lab door too.  Took a week to face him again.”

Dirk looked sadly at the man on the table, “The last one to find out was Jane.  That’s when the trouble started.  Jake told her one night.  He was so stupidly optimistic sometimes and he flat out told her.  What none of us knew was what she felt for him.  I’d beaten her to the punch.  I felt badly.  Wish I hadn’t.  That was when Jake started questioning and he and I started fighting.”

“I got possessive,” Dirk admitted, “Like super possessive.  Jake was trying to figure out his own feelings, and then there was our mission objective and the pressure was just building.  It’d been nearly a year and we seemed no closer to achieving our goal.  Then it happened.  Late one night, Roxy and Josh succeeded. It was an amazing breakthrough.  And then we were recalled from the field.  Just like that.  Our project had been canceled, just as we had reached success.  The project was set for termination.  But Jake had grown too fond of the island and wasn’t ready to leave.  I considered staying with him to try and work things out between us, but I had another obligation to consider.  Then, the day we were heading out, Jake called it quits all together, told me he was staying, and told me Jane was staying with him.”

Dirk took in a shuttering breath, “The last time I saw him, I told him to go fuck himself.  That was almost twenty years ago.  I thought time and distance would sever those feelings.  They didn’t.  That’s why I don’t want to go back.  I don’t think I can face him again.”

Dave let the words hang in the air before he took a few tentative steps towards his brother, finally kneeling down in front of him.  They were quiet for a long time, the sound of Mr. Egbert’s labored breathing the only disruption.

“We can let the other’s go,” Dave’s voice shook as he offered to abandon everything again for his brother, his thoughts turning to John, “We can disappear.”

“No,” Dirk chuckled, “I can’t let you do that. They’d find us eventually.  And what about John?”

“I don’t know,” Dave admitted miserably.

“Roxy was right,” the older man set his lips, “I’m being selfish.  You’re in this too.  You and John and Rose and Roxy and Josh.  You’re all in this.  Obligations I can’t let go of.”

Dave’s mind raced back to something in his brother’s explanation, he’d let his brother finish his story but now it nagged at him, “Dirk?  You said you had to leave because of obligations, you meant me right?”

“Yeah, little man,” Dirk smiled, “You’re more important than some twat fuck any day.”

“But where was I before?” Dave continued, “I’m seventeen, and if this was nearly twenty years ago, where was I?  And you said Mom and Dad died before you graduated high school.  That doesn’t add up.”

“Smart, just like your Bro,” Dirk laughed bemusedly, “Well isn’t it obvious?”

Dave shook his head ‘no’ causing Dirk to laugh before continuing, “Come on, little man.  Big secret government project?  Biology and Chemistry genius?  Best of the best in their fields?  Nothing?! Man, I guess you’re not as smart as your Bro.  Or rather, your dad.”

Dave’s eyes bugged a bit, “Dad?”

“Sort of,” Dirk laughed, “Dude, you’re my clone.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry it's been a while, been a busy and shitty year so far :/ Just a reminder to all, I DO have a tumblr and post these there as well! Anakistarsong.tumblr.com

“Clone?!” Dave’s jaw went slack as the possibility sunk in.

“That was our project,” Dirk shook his head and smiled, “Kind of like a super soldier project.  Cloning the top field agents to keep the ranks strong.”

“Am I… just me?” Dave’s head began to hurt with the blow of the revelation.

“Ha!” Dirk scoffed, “There were 4 successes.  You, John, Rose, and Jade.”

“Wait, you mean like my internet friend Jade?”

“You think it’s completely random you three are friends?” Dirk laughed, “Wasn’t it Jade who contacted you? And introduced you to John and Rose?”

“Well yeah but…” Dave trailed off, sinking to the floor and clutching his head.

“Hey, relax little man,” Dirk placed a hand on Dave’s shoulder to steady the boy.

“So I’m you?” the younger blond looked up questioningly to Dirk.

“Hardly,” Dirk laughed again, “Genetically we’re the same, but that’s it.  You have your own personality, don’t you? You and I are different in many ways.”

“But we’re both gay,” Dave pointed out.

“Well that solves the stupid believe that it’s a choice, now doesn’t it?”

“So Rose is Roxy’s clone, too?”

“Yep, and Jade is Jane’s clone,” Dirk confirmed

“So John is Josh’s?” Dave felt a sinking in his stomach when his brother sighed in response and frowned.

“No,” Dirk shook his head, “Josh was the head of the project, but he never supplied DNA to it.  But when we left the island and Jake and Jane stayed behind, he would only let them keep Jade.”

“So John is…” Dave trailed off.

“Jake’s clone, yes,” Dirk sighed again, “I’m sorry.”

“So we’re doomed, then,” Dave felt his heart shatter.

“Woah, there,” Dirk lifted his brother’s chin so they could lock eyes, “John is gay, as is Jake.  John just accepts it because he was raised by a man who never instilled fear of self into him.  Josh is probably the most fit of all of us to be a parent.  That’s why I am still so hurt over Jake.  I know he’s gay, but he wants to deny it so badly that he’s willing to sacrifice anything to keep up that charade.”

Dave smiled ruefully, “And the fact that John and I are actually together probably doesn’t help, does it?”

“It reopened the wound,” Dirk admitted, “But you’re doing well with healing it.”

Dave leaned up and pressed his lips to Dirk’s and the older man hummed his appreciation.  Then Mr. Egbert was coughing again and the two broke apart quickly as the man on the table groaned and hoarsely whispered.

“Water.”

“Get Roxy,” Dirk ordered as he opened a bottle of water that was sitting nearby and lifted the man’s head.

Dave tore from the room and raced to the common room.  He raced in to find John and Rose playing cards and Roxy typing away on a laptop.  They all looked up when Dave came tearing into the room.  The blond caught his breath and smiled broadly at them all, locking eyes with John.

“He’s awake.”

There was a brief second for the news to set in before John was up out of his chair and racing from the room followed closely by Roxy.  Dave couldn’t help but chuckle as thy rushed past him, leaving him and the other blond alone.  He looked at Rose and sighed heavily.  She quirked a smile towards him and softly spoke, her eyes bright.

“He told you, didn’t he?”

Dave’s jaw went slack and he had to try several times before he found his voice, “You knew?!”

“Mother told me about five years ago,” Rose shrugged, “It’s when she started my training.  I find it quite fascinating.”

“Doesn’t it bug you even a little?” Dave’s head began to hurt again.

“I’ll admit, at first I was a little…” she searched for the correct word, “Overwhelmed?  Yes, overwhelmed.”

“How did you cope?”

“Well at first I found my mother’s alcohol stash,” Rose chuckled grimly, “But then I began thinking about it and realized that, while identical to her in genetic code, I was my own person.  It began my long love of psychology.”

“So I have your mother to blame for all that psycho analysis shit you try to pull on me,” Dave rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.

“Probably,” Rose sighed before standing and walking towards the door, “Come on, it’s best we join the others.”

Dave and Rose found the other four in the conference room turned medical bay.  Mr. Egbert had turned several shades healthier and was propped up higher by pillows and blankets.  His hand was locked tightly with John’s, the boy hovering close by his father.  Dirk and Roxy were talking in lower tones when the tens entered the room.  They looked up and Dirk smiled at Dave.

“Great,” Roxy started, “Now that we’re all here, let’s discuss tomorrow.”

Dave pulled up one of the office chairs and sat with his legs straddling the back and resting his chin on the back rest as the woman continued, “I’ve chartered us a plane for the morning and our flight plan is in for approval.  Dirk, you’ll be flying of course.”

Dave gawked at his brother, but the older blond just gave him a wink as Roxy continued, “Rose and I will cover security to make sure we’re clear before we all load up.  John?  You and Dave will have to look after your father and help him get aboard securely.”

“Is he really alright to travel?” John spoke up.

“I’ll be fine,” Mr. Egbert coughed, “Get us to the island and I can recover there.”

“I’ll take Dave and head into town,” Dirk headed towards the door, “Anything you guys need?  There isn’t much on the island.”

After Rose and Roxy listed off a series of things they wish to have procured, Mr. Egbert interjected, “John?  Go with them.”

“But Dad,” John protested.

“I need to rest,” the older man cut him off, “You’ll do yourself no good sitting here worrying about me.”

John reluctantly nodded and followed the two blonds to the black truck.  Before they got in, Dirk caught the dark haired boy and pulled him close, feathering a kiss on the surprised boy’s lips, “Don’t worry, John. He’ll be ok.”

Dave pulled an exaggerated pout which made the other two laugh and each kiss the young blond in return before they piled into the vehicle and sped into the city.  As they traversed shops in search of toiletries, first aid kits, and food supplies, John and Dave held hands and stole kisses between themselves or with Dirk occasionally.  A few side eyed glances stole their way, but no one seemed intent on bothering the trio and Dave felt light as air to be walking in public as a lover, not hiding his feelings behind closed doors and in midnight darkened rooms.

When they returned they found Rose and Roxy ready to load the truck with crates of supplies and gear they would be taking with them.  John raced off back to his father’s side as Dave and Dirk helped secure all the provisions for their trip.  The sun had just set when they all retired to rest up for the trip ahead.

“We need to be there at six o’clock,” Roxy reminded the Striders as they all traipsed down the halls to their respective quarters.

The brothers removed the mattresses from their roll away cots and pushed them together on the floor.  Slowly stripping down, Dave stood naked in front of his brother and studied the older man’s form keenly, comparing their bodies.  Then with lethargic kisses, the two men sunk down onto the bed together and curled in for sleep. When the door creaked open and a little light spilled in, Dave smiled as John’s silhouette painted the floor. Seeing the two brothers naked together, John quickly closed the door behind him and stood frozen in the darkness.

With a sighed chuckle, Dave stood and crossed to the dark haired boy, “You need to relax and rest.”

“That’s what Dad said,” John admitted guiltily.

“Come here,” Dave pulled his boyfriend in for a kiss and the brunet melted into his lips with a sigh. 

Quickly undressing, John wiggled down onto the mattress between the two brothers, hungrily kissing Dirk when the man offered him his lips.  The two brother’s took turns kissing and caressing the young man between them, making the boy writhe and moan.  It wasn’t long before Dave found his mouth wrapped around John’s dick as the boy raced to climax.  With a sputter and a gag, Dave swallowed down the flood of liquid and wiped his mouth off happily as John relaxed between the brothers.  Laying his head on the brunet’s chest and lacing fingers with his brother, Dave fell quickly asleep, a smile gracing his lips.


	19. Chapter 19

The morning had been a flurry of activity as the tenants of the safe house busied themselves with showers and packing up the last of the gear they’d need for the trip. The edge of the sky had just hinted at changing lighter shades when they abandoned their posts and headed for the airfield. Roxy, Dirk, and Rose had taken the truck packed with provisions and had left Dave to drive the car with John constantly checking on his father who was packed carefully into the back seat. When they pulled up to the barbed wire gates flanked by armed guards, Dave had to swallow the lump that rose in his throat. There was a small exchange between the passengers of the truck and one of the men before the gate was slowly wheeled open and both vehicles were waved through.

The airfield was massive and filled with planes ranging from small crop dusters to large commercial liners. Not too far off several large aircraft took off and landed at the adjoining airport. Dave followed as his brother took them through rows of hangers until they pulled up to a small metallic building with the doors thrown wide. The airplane inside was an average size, large enough for maybe twenty passengers with a hatch in the back large enough for a vehicle to drive into.

Roxy climbed from the passenger seat and tapped a panel on the outside of the hatch which opened with a hiss as a ramp lowered. Waving to Dave, the boy drove close and hopped out to help John carry his father on board. The cabin of the plane was spacious and there was a long flat seat when the boys deposited their charge. Leaving John to tend to his father, Dave found his way to the side door and opened it, lowering the stairs and helping Rose climb in as his brother drove the truck carefully up into the bay, the plane rocking slightly at the added weight.

The bay door hissed again as it closed with the cargo loaded in and Dirk came up through the cabin on his way to the cockpit. Slowly the plane came to life as Roxy climbed aboard and checked on the passengers. As the engines charged up and the vehicle began to move, Roxy took her place in the cockpit beside Dirk. They slowly left the hanger and taxied down the small lane till they approached a strip sided by flashing lights. That’s when Dirk’s voice came over the intercom system.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Strider Air,” he drawled, “Uhhhh, it looks like we’ve got prime flying weather. Uhhhh our inflight movie will be Finding Nemo. We’ll be cruising at uhhhh…”

The microphone squealed slightly as Roxy tore it out of the man’s hand and the teens in the cabin giggled. They sat at the end of the runway for several minutes. When they began moving again, Dave rechecked his seatbelt and gripped the hand rests.

“You ok?” John’s voice was soft in his ear.

“Yeah,” Dave swallowed, “Just not fond of flying.”

“It’ll be ok,” John laid his hand over top of his boyfriend’s, “We’ll be there before you know it.”

Dave nodded at the reassurance and tried to force himself to relax as the plane positioned itself at the end of the runway. Then they were accelerating. Dave took slow, deliberate breaths and concentrated on John’s hand on top of his own. Faster than he expected, they leveled off and were cruising in the clouds. Dave let out a slow, relaxing breath which quickly turned into a hearty laugh as the television screens at the front of the aisles began the opening credits of Finding Nemo.

The movie had long since ended and the cabin had grown quiet when Dirk came strolling back through the cabin. John was asleep, propped slightly on Dave’s shoulder and Rose was quietly knitting what appeared to be a scarf. The older blond disappeared into the lavatory for a moment. Stepping out, he caught Dave’s eye and signaled for the younger blond to follow. Checking that he didn’t wake John and that Rose didn’t seem to notice, Dave slipped out of his seat and followed his brother back into the cargo bay. Walking around the parked truck, Dave found his brother reclining on a supply crate.

“Is this how I join the mile high club?” Dave chuckled.

Dirk smiled, “Not today, little man.”

Dave’s smile faulted a little, “Then what’s up?”

“I wanted to ask you,” Dirk began but then shook his head, “Nah, forget it.”

“Come on, bro,” Dave tried.

“It was stupid,” Dirk stood but Dave blocked his way.

“Dirk,” the younger blond put his hands on his brother’s shoulders and steadied him, “It’s just me. It’s just me.”

Dirk tentatively leaned in kissed Dave, gently and lovingly. Sinking back down onto the crate, the older man pulled the younger down with him so Dave was straddling his lap. The lazily kissed for a few minutes before Dirk reclined further and pulled Dave down into his check, wrapping his arms around the younger man and sighing into his hair. They were both quiet for a while before Dirk spoke, his voice rumbling through his chest and into Dave’s ears.

“When we get there, just…promise me you won’t let me forget who I am.”

“What do you mean?” Dave’s brow furrowed but he didn’t pull away.

“He made me crazy,” Dirk explained, “I felt so out of control whenever I was around him. Don’t let me forget what we have, you and me and John. Don’t let me forgive that bucked toothed fuck wad. Don’t let me get hurt again.”

As the words sunk in, Dave felt the weight of them hit his heart and he swallowed back his sudden fear, “I promise.”

They were quiet for a few moments, then Dave gently questioned his brother,” What do you think will happen when we get there? Between you and him I mean.”

“I don’t know,” Dirk sighed.

Dave waited, then changed his question, “What do you _hope_ will happen?”

“You sure know how to ask the tough questions, little man,” Dirk rumbled but held his brother tightly to him, “I hope to get there and nothing happens. We do our business and leave. I hope he begs for forgiveness and I have the satisfaction of denying it to him. I hope I don’t deny him. I hope he asks me to stay with him. I hope he gets left alone and heartbroken like I was. I hope I can recover from this.”

They stayed cuddled together for a while longer. By mutual consent, they broke apart and returned to their original posts. Rose barely glanced up at Dave’s return, just subtle enough to let him know she knew he was gone. As Dave settled back in, John stirred to life.

“Hey, Dave?” The dark haired boy yawned.

“What’s up?”

“I’ve been thinking,” John sighed.

“A dangerous past time.”

“Did you just quote Beauty and the Beast on me?” John laughed.

“Well we all know I’m the pretty one,” Dave smarmed earning him a playful punch in the arm, “Alright, alright. What’s got the gear a’turnin there Egbert?”

“It’s my Dad,” John’s eyebrows knit together, “Before we land I want to…well, I wanna tell him about me. About…us.”

“Oh,” the lump in Dave’s throat returned, “N-now?”

John just shook his head. Dave hadn’t even thought about this hurtle yet. He didn’t want to have to face Mr. Egbert’s disapproving glare. He’d rather take on an army of gun toting government agents than have to see the older man’s lips press firm and his eyes fill with shame. But if what Dirk said was true about it being genetic then surely the older man had guessed, had an inkling that his son would most likely be like his DNA comparison.

“Let’s not tell him about Dirk,” Dave cautioned.

“Agreed,” John swallowed and undid his seat belt, Dave following suit.

The walk to the front of the aisle seemed to take forever, though it was only a couple of feet. Mr. Egbert lay propped up on a long bench seat with some pillows stuffed behind his head and a blanket wrapped around his legs. He appeared to be asleep but when John knelt next to him and took his hand, the man’s eyes fluttered open and he smiled at the two boys.

“Hey son,” His voice was soft and warm, “Are we there already?”

“No,” John chuckled nervously, “I wanted to…We wanted to talk to you.”

“Alright,” Dave could see the seriousness sink in on the older man and he sat up as best he could, “Well come on, sport.”

“Well, Dad,” John tried to start, “With us being on the run and all. Well, Dad, getting to meet my friends for the first time. Well, Dad, I think I should fill you in.”

“Three ‘Well Dad’s in a row?” Mr. Egbert laughed, “I haven’t seen you this nervous since you came home with your first C on a report card. Talk to me son.”

John remained quiet, unable to look at his father. The man looked at his son with an unwavering smile, then turned his eyes up to Dave. That’s when it hit him. Dave saw the moment of realization enter his eyes and the thought turn to solid fact in one blink. Turning back to his son, Mr. Egbert spoke very gently, in what Dave could only assume was the most fatherly tone he could muster.

“You know, son, when I was your age I wanted to play basketball. I had it in my head that I was going to be the next Jerry West. But I couldn’t handle the ball to save my life. Finally I had to admit to myself it wasn’t who I was. I was disappointed because I had let myself down and more importantly, I thought I had let the people who believed in me down. Then I won my first science fair and I saw how proud everyone was of me, how proud I was of myself. And suddenly that drive to be a basketball player wasn’t there anymore, because it wasn’t me. I embraced who I really was, a scientist. And you know what? It lead me to meet some of the greatest people in my life and took me places I hadn’t even dreamed of. What I’m getting at is, if you accept who you really are, then I’ll always be here to support you, son.”

John lifted his head, his eyes wet with unshed tears, “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, son,” careful to avoid his injuries, the two men hugged.

Over his son’s back, Mr. Egbert smiled and winked up at Dave who turned several shades darker. The two boys wandered back to their seat, their fingers interlocked. As they walked past Rose, Dave couldn’t help but chuckle as she avoided their eyes but a snarky smile creased her lips. Dave felt renewed. He prayed they were ready for what lay ahead.

 


	20. Chapter 20

Dave scaled the brick wall a quick as he could, not looking down. Thunder rumbled and his fingers slipped on the wet bricks. Finally his nails scrapped over the edge and he felt the lip and gravel under his hand. That’s when a hard leather sole pressed into his knuckles tearing a scream from his throat. Lashing out with his other hand, Dave grabbed the boot and pulled as hard as he could, throwing the figure towering over him toppling over the edge. There was a sudden jerk as the man grabbed Dave on his way down and the blond lost his grip and tumbled after him. Turning to face his opponent, Dave swung hard at the black clad figure, knocking his helmet off in the process.

The man looked stunned for a moment and Dave was shocked to see crystal blue eyes and bucked teeth glaring up at him with hatred. It was John. No, it wasn’t, but he looked like he could be John’s brother. Or father. Then it dawned on Dave. It was Jake. As the two tumbled down through the air the blows came again, Jake landing a punch to Dave’s gut, the blond returning with a well-placed foot to the groin, countered with a right hook, until Dave got the man into a head lock and flipped them so they were facing the ground that was rushing up to meet them. Right before impact, Dave jolted awake.

The cabin was dark and other than the hum of the jet engine it was fairly quiet. Dave chanced a glance out the window. The sky was dark and a few wispy clouds punctuated the sky, but a half moon glowed and shimmered off the gently rocking waves beneath them, stretching for as far as he could see. John shifted in the seat next to him and spoke up quietly, his voice groggy.

“Y’ok?”

“Yeah,” Dave settled back down into his seat, “Just had a bad dream.”

“What about?” John blinked his eyes several times and stretched with a slight yawn.

“Hard to explain,” the blond evaded and fortunately John let it stand.

After a few seconds of silence, John spoke again, “How long till we get there?”

“Not sure,” Dave pulled out his phone and checked the time, “Fucking time zone changes. Well, I’m not sure where we are so anywhere between we should’ve been there two hours ago to another three hours?”

John laughed and stretched again. The cockpit divider opened suddenly and Dirk entered the cabin. Dave watched as his brother first bent to check on Mr. Egbert who was asleep again, then cross to Rose. After a quiet exchange of words the girl stood and entered the cockpit with her mother, closing the divider behind her. The older blond walked up to the two boys and Dave could tell the man was tense.

“Everything ok?” Dave quirked an eyebrow at his sibling.

“Yeah, about an hour out,” Dirk’s voice was shaky and Dave had a pretty good guess why.

Standing, Dave grabbed his brother’s neck and pulled the man into a kiss, Dirk was shaking but calmed a bit as their lips hummed together before Dave pulled away, “How about that mile high club?”

Dirk just nodded slightly and Dave was out of the seat and into the aisle, pulling his brother with him and John following quickly after. When they reached the cargo hold Dave pushed his brother up against the driver’s side of the truck and pressed their lips together, grabbing John’s hand and pressing it with his own against his brother’s growing bulge. Dirk groaned and thrust against the pressure. John pushed up to capture Dirk’s lips while Dave dropped immediately to his knees and quickly undid Dirk’s pants, yanking them down and releasing his throbbing cock. Licking his lips quickly, Dave engulfed Dirk in one motion and nearly gagged as the older blond reached for the back of his head and pushed himself in as far as he could.

Slobbering up as much as he could, Dave pumped up and down his brother’s dick, swirling his tongue around the head making the man’s knees shake and his hips thrust. Pulling John down, Dave let his boyfriend take over sucking the older man while he shed his own pants and dug a bottle of lube out from his pocket. He had been prepared for this, he’d actually been hopping that either one of the men with him now would want to fuck on the plane ride and now was his chance. Slicking up his fingers and pressing them into himself, Dave gasped and groaned as he readied himself to ride his brother. Dirk’s eyes were hungry as he watched the young blond finger himself while the brunet boy sucked and slurped at his dick.

John sat back on his haunches, finally relinquishing Dirk’s member to Dave who stepped between them and lined his brother up before pressing back into the man. When his dick popped in, both Dave and Dirk let out a relieved hiss. When John’s mouth engulfed Dave’s cock, the younger blond groaned as his eyes threatened to bug out of his head. Dirk pushed in and pulled out of his younger brother slowly at first before quickly picking up the pace, pulling the smaller blond tightly against his chest and turning the boy’s head so he could roughly kiss his swollen lips.

Dave felt the familiar tingle in his loins and warned John his was about to cum. The brunet kept up his pace and Dave’s voice went an octave higher as his pumped his lover’s throat full, clamping down hard on his brother’s dick. Dirk swore and carefully pushed Dave off, pumping himself furiously as the blond knelt and prepared to suck down the older man’s load. With a grunt from Dirk signaling the point of no return, Dave clamped his lips over his dick and sucked down the salty ropes his brother pumped into him. Slowly sinking to the floor, Dirk panted, sweat glistening on his brow. Suddenly, he reached out and pulled John into his lap.

“Don’t think you’re getting away,” the older blond growled as he shoved his hand down John’s tented jeans making the boy gasp and moan.

Quickly undoing John’s pants for him, Dave watched as Dirk stroked his boyfriend quickly towards climax. The boy writhed and moaned as Dirk held him tightly to him and pumped his dick hard. When John moaned he was close, Dirk instructed the boy to stand up and pulled him quickly into his mouth, bringing John to a noisy climax and Dirk completed the circle and sucked down every drop John had to offer. The three men collapsed onto the floor of the cargo bay, piled in various states of undress as they regained their even breathing and basked in the afterglow of sex. It was John who moved first to replace his garments, pulling Dirk up with a reassuring kiss as Dave put his pants back on. Once they felt they could pass inspection, the men silently made their way back into the cabin, the two younger men returning to their seats as Dirk sauntered to the cockpit. Soon, Rose returned to her seat and the plane began to lower altitude.

Dave spotted a small dark blob in the ocean out the window just off the left of the plane. As it became rapidly larger, the craft banked left. Just before losing sight of it, a series of bright red and white lights began flashing the shape of a runway. Dave gulped, the strip looked very short. Roxy’s voice came over the intercom and reminded them all the buckle in as the approached and warned that the landing might be bumpy. There was only a small jolt however when the wheels touched the tarmac, though Dave’s stomach lurched forward as the tires squealed and they were all jostled with the force of their rapid deceleration.

John jumped out of his seat to check on his father as Dave helped Rose open the door and lower the stairs. The plan jostled as a dark haired girl leapt aboard and threw her arms around Dave.

“Oh my God!” she squealed with delight, “You’re here, you’re here, you’re here!”

“Jade, can’t breathe, can’t breathe!” Dave coughed as the surprisingly strong young woman released him with an apology.

Dirk and Roxy passed through the cabin, the older woman fondly ruffling Jade’s hair as she passed. The plane rocked again and an older looking version of Jade hopped on board, her hair cropped shorter and her smile missing as she crossed to where Mr. Egbert was laid out. Dave, John, and Jade all helped the woman who had to be Jane carefully remove the injured man from the plane and onto a waiting flatbed. That’s when Dave saw him. Jake looked back over the divide of the roofless truck to make sure the passenger was secure. He locked eyes with Dave for a second and a spark flew between them. Jake seemed disturbed slightly as the younger blond shot fire into the man with just a look. With his eyes Dave poured every ounce of hate he could muster into one glare before the man looked away.

Jade, John, and Rose hoped onto the truck with Mr. Egbert before Jake took off, driving towards the far end of the runway where a light illuminated a large opening in a partially destroyed building. Jane pulled out a small touch pad computer and the flashing lights ceased and the poles that held them receded into the ground. Dave took a second to look under his feet. It was asphalt, or something similar, but it was darker than usual. As his eyes searched on he saw what had to be hardened pyroclastic flows and lava fields all around them. They had hidden the runway right in the middle of the hardened lava. Genius.

After Dirk pulled the truck out of the cargo hold, Jane and Roxy climbed back aboard the plane and began taxiing it to the end of the runway when dense trees hung over a small alcove. If Dave strained his eyes he could make out the shape of another, smaller craft buried in the vegetation. Dirk swung the truck around and pulled up beside the boy who quickly climbed in. Alone in the cab, Dave turned to his brother who gave him a rueful smile.

“You gonna be ok?”

Dirk sighed, “We’ll find out, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting closer to the end, I’m going to guess about 5 more chapters depending on how wordy I want to get ;) Thanks for sticking with me so far! I hope to have the thing done before HSWC starts up and I get tied up with Dave<3Sollux hehe


	21. Chapter 21

The crumbled façade was massive, but not nearly as large as the base hidden under its ruins. Vast storehouses and giant machinery gave way to locked chambers covered in biohazard symbols and tanks containing suspended specimens hooked up to whirring and clicking consoles. Dave was a little disturbed when he had to help Dirk and Jake lower Mr. Egbert into such a vat, the greenish clear liquid splashing over the sides.

“Vitals are strong,” Roxy relayed from the floor, “How you doin’ there Josh?”

The man in the tank gave a weak thumbs up, air bubbles trickling from the face mask as his eyes blinked wildly before adjusting to the liquid environment. Jane was patiently explaining to a much panicked John that it was best for his father to remain submerged for a few days and that he would recover more quickly than if left alone. Jane was showing Rose some of the controls around the room and deciphering the monitors to the blonde. Dave, however, was busy feeling the immense tension that flowed like electricity between his brother and Jake.

When they had accidentally brushed getting Mr. Egbert ready Dave had seen his brother’s cheeks flush crimson and Jake had visibly flinched. They hadn’t spoken a single word to one another through the whole process. Now they stood awkwardly at the top of the platform, still silent. Relief came when Jane called them to the floor.

“Dirk, I assume you remember where your room is?” She smiled sweetly.

“Yeah,” the taller blond mumbled.

“I hope you don’t mind shacking up with your brother,” she turned to Dave who had to nod and bite his tongue.

“Why don’t you take John as well?” Roxy spoke up, “I think it would be best, don’t you think so John?”

The dark haired boy nodded and slunk to Dave who reflexively wrapped his arms protectively around his lover. Jake flinched again and Dave felt a wave of malice wash through him. Taking John’s hand and interlacing their fingers, Dave walked John back to his Dad and nodded to the drowsy looking man in the tube before indicating to his brother to lead the way. As they exited, Dave pulled John’s hand up and kissed it. Though the blond couldn’t see the reaction behind him, he guessed the arrow had struck hard.

The halls were brightly lit and stark white as they traversed through the maze of corridors and stairs. The complex was vast, Dave guessed at least ten stories underground, each level about twenty times the size of his apartment floor, which housed 6 units itself. Dirk stopped at a rather unassuming door and let out a deep sigh before turning the knob and disappearing inside. Dave pulled John through the door and closed it quietly behind them. The room was a large open space that seamlessly melded livingroom to kitchen to bedroom to bathroom. Posters and pictures covered the walls and robotics sat on tables, everything looked like it belonged there and hadn’t been sitting unattended for almost twenty years.

Dave led John over to the bed and set the boy down quietly on the paisley colored comforter before approaching his brother. Dirk stood in the middle of the room, his eyes searching over everything as moisture threatened to break forth. Gently placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder, Dave was surprised when his brother started openly crying and turned to wrap his arms around him. It felt weird and alien holding the man who’d always been the pillar of strength in his life, but he knew what hell his brother must be going through. Soon the crying stopped, but Dirk still help on tightly to his brother as he laughed, a low rumble vibrating through his chest and into Dave.

“Fucking place hasn’t changed a bit,” Dirk gently pulled away from Dave.

“Come on,” Dave tugged gently on his brother’s hand, “It’s been a long day.”

John turned on a small bedside lamp as Dave cut the lights to the rest of the room. The three men peeled of their clothes and cuddled up on the king sized mattress together. Lazy kisses were passed around and hands idly played with half hard arousals but the three found themselves slipping in and out of consciousness and finally let sleep take them. Dave slipped in and out of sleep all night. One time he woke up and lazily began kissing John who woke slightly to kiss him back and rut against him before falling back asleep. Another time found Dirk awake and sitting on the edge of the bed and Dave had to coax him to lay back down and get some more rest.

It was mid-morning when Dave finally allowed himself and the two other men to rouse from sleep. The shower was only big enough for one so while the two younger boys took turns cleaning off, Dirk silently prepared breakfast. Dave surmised that with their return eminent, the trio on the island had taken care to clean and stock their old accommodations. Dave took grim satisfaction in thinking about Jake either having to force himself back into this room or chicken out and make one of the women do it. A subtle drama played out in his head as he showered imagining Jake sneaking into this room late at night for the past twenty years, carefully tending to it and bemoaning his loss, laying on the Dirk’s bed and attempting to pull his scent from the blankets.

There was a soft knock at the door and the whole room froze. The three men were all naked, having not felt the need to dress around each other. Dirk nodded to Dave who tossed him his jeans from the floor as John wrestled on his own shorts and Dave wrapped himself in a towel. Dirk, zipping up, opened the door to find Roxy smiling at him.

“Ah, good morning boys,” She beamed, “John? Dave? I believe Jade wants to give you and Rose a tour of the island. Dirk, you and I have some codes to crack. It seems this thing goes deeper than we suspected. Meet me in the command center and drop the boys off by R and D hanger one.”

With that, she turned a walked away leaving Dirk leaning against the frame shaking his head. Closing the door once again, Dirk turned to the two younger men and smiled reassuringly.

“We’ll get this figured out. We’re not going anywhere for a while so why don’t you go enjoy the island?”

Once dressed, Dirk walked the boys to a large hangar on the ground floor of the complex. With a ruffle of hair, the older blond left the two boys in the company of their waiting female friends. Rose wore a broad smile and Jade was bouncing excitedly as she babbled on about how excited she was to take them all out. It was when she started passing out firearms that Dave suddenly took interest.

“Why the hell are you handing me an AK?” Dave eyed the assault rifle suspiciously.

“Because we’re not the only things loose on this island,” the sparkle in Jade’s eye did nothing to ease Dave’s mind.

Double checking everyone was armed and ready, Jade shouldered her sniper rifle and lead them out a small door into the bright sun and dense foliage. The humidity was oppressive and Dave could feel his lungs thicken with each breath, but soon a cool breeze broke through the trees and took the edge off. Jade led them up a steep slope until the trees gave way to a broad grassy plateau and the other three gasped as the scene before them.

 

Below, the trees swept out over half the island, interrupted only by a charcoal black lava field where in was hidden the landing strip. The volcano rose high overhead, smoke lazily tracing out of its peak to join large puffy white clouds in the vibrantly blue sky. Where the trees didn’t cover the land around them, broad grassy fields gave way to white sand beaches and cerulean oceans fading to midnight as it swept away to meet the sky. In the middle of the bay stood a large stone ruin looking to be native central American in nature.

“This island used to be bigger,” Jade explained, but a massive eruption about five hundred years ago sent half of it tumbling off into the sea and wiped out the people who lived here. Then the government used it until our guardians faked another deadly eruption and then planted reports about radiation and dangerous wildlife.”

“Is that true?” John turned to the dark haired girl.

“Oh heavens no,” Jae giggled, “There’s no radiation here.”

“And the wildlife?” Rose quirked and eye brow as Jade simply smiled in response and patted her gun.

The four teens hiked around the island, climbing the steep slopes of the volcano, diving deep into the jungle, collecting shells on the beach and even paddling out to the ruins which were mostly flooded but it made Dave shiver to think how old they were. The never had direct contact with any of the island’s other inhabitants, but Jade did let them take turns looking through her scope to see some of the elusive beasts. Dirk was particularly curious about the large winged creature that caught on the thermals of the volcano only to disappear back into the caldera.

Dave was relieved to return to the comfort of the shelter, his skin tingling from too long exposure to the sun. He wanted desperately to take a shower but couldn’t exactly remember the way back to Dirk’s room. Jade pointed him to a communal shower room nearby before taking John to see his dad. Dave found the place easy enough but voices reached his ears from inside and he slowed his approach, pressing flat against the wall outside.

“We shouldn’t have let them come here,” it’s was Jake’s voice.

“What did you expect me to do, Jake?” And Jane.

“I don’t know,” the man sighed heavily, “I was happier here alone with you and Jade.”

“Liar,” Jane’s laugh was anything but cheerful, “Thing’s haven’t been happy here for a long time, Jake.”

“Please don’t start this again, Janey.”

“Don’t Janey me,” her voice was almost a hiss, “You haunt this island like a ghost. You cling in secret to memories you’ve tried to push away for two decades. You’ve trapped me and Jade here with you.”

Dave snuck around the corner as quietly as possible. There were rows of lockers and benches giving way to an open shower room. The only light filtered in through windows high on the walls which provided great shadows in corners, one of which Dave quickly concealed himself in. Jane and Jake stood at the end of one of the rows, nearer to the showers. Jane wore khaki shorts and a t-shirt, her hair pushed back from her face which was burning red as she glared down Jake. The man was stark naked, his skin a copper color, body well defined and dark hair leading down his stomach to a thicker patch around his dick. Dave’s heart skipped a beat, Jake looked like an older version of John and the blond momentarily flashed to what he had to look forward to. The couple arguing snapped him back to reality.

“I’m just trying to sort some things out,” Jake tried weakly.

“You’ve been saying that for twenty years now Jake,” Jane shook, “And every night you sneak off to his room, to his workshop, pining for someone you drove off. You even stood outside his door last night for three hours.”

“Poppycock,” the man scoffed.

“I’m not stupid, Jake!” her voice rose shrill, “And now that you’ve seen Dave and John together, you know it’s true. You know it’s who you are. And now I know too. I’ve known all along. I should’ve never let you talk me in to staying.”

“Then leave,” Jake spat back.

“I just might,” They glared at each other for a long moment before Jane turned and stormed out.

Jake growled and hit the nearest locker which rang with the force of his blow and made Dave jump. Then the naked man stalked into the showers and turned on the water. Dave watched him from the shadows, the water coursing over chiseled abs and firm thighs, tangling in dark hair and splashing on smooth skin. Dave imagined his brother’s hands tracing all over this man, his lips kissing the skin and his dick pressed hungrily against him. A pang of jealousy flowed through the blond and a searing rage took hold. He could do it quickly. Jake was turned away from him, his face buried in the spray of the water.

With quiet steps, Dave snuck closer and closer to the shower. He could smell him, the musk that rose from his body, and feel the water splashing off onto him. Dave’s hands reached out, all he had to do was grab and dig his fingers into the windpipe, crushing it. No one would know. He stopped before he harmed the man. As his blood haze cleared, Dave took note of several things. Jake hadn’t moved at all, his face was still turned up into the spray of the water. He knew someone was there and he purposely was leaving himself open. A sudden wave of pity crashed over him and Dave could only quietly slink away, back to hos shadows. Jake finally let out a little defeated sigh and finished his shower, turning off the water and toweling off. Green eyes crossed the shadows but Dave concealed himself rather well and finally Jake left.

“Why did you stop?” Dirk’s voice made Dave nearly jump out of his skin, his neck jerking up to find his brother hidden atop the lockers.

“Fuck man,” Dave swore, “How the hell did you get up there?”

“Answer the question,” Dirk’s voice was flat.

Dave mulled it over for a moment before answering, “Because I can’t take him away from you. Because even though I’m jealous as fuck, you would be devastated if he died. And worse, I’d lose you if I was the one who did it.”

Dirk neither confirmed nor denied anything Dave said, instead he dropped from the lockers landing softly. Lifting Dave’s chin with his hand, Dirk kissed his brother passionately. Stripping quickly, the two men stumbled into the shower, hands fumbling to turn on the water as mouths explored and erections pulsed with need. Dave knew that he was a stand in right at that moment and that Dirk’s mind was on the man who had stood there naked moments before, but he was the one getting this man and not Jake and he was ok with being the surrogate.

The encounter was quick and greedy, Dirk devouring Dave cock before forcing him against the wall and pushing his dick deep into his brother. Dave moaned like a porn star at the ferocity with which his brother pummeled him and they both came with such force that their knees buckled and the fell to the tile floor together in a heap. Dirk kissed Dave gently after that and apologized for being rough, but Dave hadn’t minded. Cleaning up, the two men went in search of their friends.

John and Roxy sat near the vat where Mr. Egbert hung suspended in greenish liquid. John looked up with a smile and graciously accepted a fist bump from Dave as Dirk called up to Josh.

“How you feeling, old man?”

“A right side…better…” the man’s voice issued from a small speaker in the console as little air bubbled tricked out of the mask.

“What’s that stuff made of anyways?” Dave inspected the tube.

“Stem cells,” Roxy informed him, “Well, that’s partially what it is anyway. This is all Josh’s design.”

“Why would you have a solution like that?” John inquired.

“Well it helps with cell damage recovery,” Roxy smiled, “It’s also a great medium for biological growth tests and cell replication.”

“Cell replication,” John mused, “You mean like cloning?”

“Precisely,” Dirk smiled up at the man in the tube who rolled his eyes.

“Wait,” John stopped, “Dad? Why do I look so much like Jake? …Dad?!”

“Son,” Mr. Egbert’s voice crackled, but he seemed lost for words.

“Yes, John,” Dirk turned to the boy, “You are genetically cloned from Jake English, just like Jade is Jane’s clone, Rose is Roxy’s, and Dave is mine. However, that doesn’t mean you’re any less of a person or that you are going to turn out the same way your genetic donor did. And Josh is still your dad. This is his life’s work. You are his greatest creation, and you are why he’s holding on right now. Do you know, he probably would’ve died back at Roxy’s but he was damned determined that he couldn’t leave you alone yet. Something about father and son bonding time.”

John’s eyes spilled over as he smiled up at his father who looked down at him, his eyes pleading for his son to understand. John just nodded. The small group was silent for a while longer while the information sunk in before Rose entered the room.

“We have a lead.”


	22. Chapter 22

“It took some digging but I found these,” Jane clicked through a series of windows until two images of official looking documents were projected on the large screen.

The room reminded Dave of the pictures he’d seem of NASA Mission Control, with rows of computers and panels and a large screen in front. He briefly entertained the idea of asking if they could play League in there because what would be cooler than a five console game with a big screen for play by play action? But he refrained.

The document on the left was stamped as classified and some information had even been blacked out but the intent was clear. A project called Super-Bio Utility and Radiation Ballistics. In short it detailed a project of genetic engineering of weapons for use in anti-terrorism actions by the United States and British military. The document on the right was another classified piece, this one detailing seizure and execution orders of the projects finding and research.

“The SBURB order hit the web about two weeks ago, leaked from an unknown source,” Jane explained, “Suddenly some agents turn up dead who were connected to the project and this executive extermination order was signed.”

“English please?” Dave quirked an eyebrow.

“They’ve ordered us and our guardians killed,” Rose clarified matter-of-factly.

“But who would have the clearance to even access the original documents, let alone put out a kill call?” Roxy pointed to the signature on the right hand document, “Who the hell is Jack Noir?

After a moment or two’s silence, Dirk whispered, “Oh you have got to be fucking me.”

“What?” Jake turned from where he was leaning against a console, decidedly away from the rest of the group.

“Look at the signature on the left,” Dirk explained.

“S. Slick,” John read aloud.

“Oh my god,” Roxy gawked, “Dirk, I see it.”

“See what?” Dave felt frustration creep in.

“Look at the C the K and the I in both names,” Dirk explained, “Notice the curvature? The disconnection of the body and jutting lines of the K? And the I is dotted with a slight crossed slant.”

“It can’t be,” Jane shook her head, “I shot him in the head!”

Jane began typing furiously as Roxy explained to the perplexed looking group of teenagers, “Slick was the commanding officer in charge of getting this whole project together. He hand selected this very team and found us this island.”

“Ruthless,” Jake recalled, “He would accept nothing but success from any of us.”

“When the project was canceled,” Roxy continued, “He came here to personally tell us. Gun in hand. He blamed us for the failure and in his mind we all had to be cleared out and disposed of. Fortunately I had befriended Droll, one of his staff members, and we had warning of his plot.”

“He shot Droll dead when they got here, figuring out the guy had told us,” Dirk sighed.

“We weren’t going without a fight,” Roxy smirked, “When reason didn’t work, well Jane took a well-aimed sniper shot and got him right through the eye. His people retreated, taking the bodies with them and that’s when Director Scratch showed up and offered us a deal. We could stay in the system, become field agents, and in return he’d cover up everything about you kids. Jane and Jake opted for a different route and we helped them stage an eruption and faked their deaths.”

“Doc never did buy that story,” Jake chuckled, “He contacted us right before the cancer took him.”

“Well, he at least pretended to,” Roxy sighed, “Enough to classify everything we’d done here.”

“Holy shit,” Jane suddenly exclaimed throwing another image up on the big screen.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Jake whistled.

On the screen was the image of a man with deep set eyes. His hair was dark yet sparse and greased back over his head as if pushed out of the way angrily. His mouth a scowl as he seemed to be sitting in some sort of meeting, military insignia clearly evident on the people seated around him. Over his left eye he wore a dark patch, just the hint of a scar poking out around the edges.

“Roxy?” Dirk turned to the blonde woman, “Stay here and help Jane? We need to track down where he is and get this settled once and for all. I’m going to go fill in Josh.”

“He should be good to come out of that tank,” Jane spoke up, “Boys, go with him? Jake, take Jade and Rose with you to the armory. I have a feeling we’re going to need a full complement of arms for this one.”

“Jane, we’re not leaving this island,” Jake stood and the room went quiet.

“Yes, we are,” Jane turned to the man, her eyes cool and calculating.

“This is our sanctuary,” Jake tried, “Away from anyone who’d try to kill us. This is where we belong.”

“No, Jake,” Jane stood and took a few steps towards him, “We belong with our friends.”

“We’re staying here,” Jake raised his voice a bit more firmly.

“No, Jake!” Jane screamed, “You can stay rotting away on this god forsaken island if that’s what you want, hiding away from the world and from who you really are. But I refuse. And I will be taking our daughter with me.”

Jake was stunned into silence before quietly exiting the room. Dave watched him go and a wave of pity washed over him. He looked at his brother, but the older blond started straight ahead and suddenly as it had come, Dave’s pity had melted into spite once more. Jane took a deep breath and apologized to everyone before turning to her daughter.

“Jane, sweetheart,” Her tone was calm and motherly, “Would you take dear sweet Rose with you?”

“Yes, mom,” Jade ran to Jane and hugged her tightly, “I’ll pack your favorite hunting rifle and everything.”

“There’s a good girl,” the older woman smiled, her eyes misty, “Now run along.”

“Go on, Dirk,” Roxy waved the man away, “Us girls can handle this part.”

The men left the room, Dave giving one backward glance to Jane who sunk down into her chair, tears rolling silently down her face. As they walked down the halls, Dave let his anger of Jake bubble up inside of himself. The man had hurt his brother. Now he held his daughter and wife trapped on this island. Dave cursed himself that he hadn’t slit the man’s throat when he had the chance. Then again, who was he to judge? Maybe if he’d been in the same spot he’d have made some pretty dumb choices himself.

“How you feelin’ there, Joshy?” Dirk bellowed as they entered the room, “Ready to get out of that tube?”

“You have no…idea,” Mr. Egbert sighed.

Dave and John climbed the scaffolding to the top of the enclosure as Dirk messed with the control panel. Once the mechanical systems raised the man within arm’s reach, the boys took ahold of his arms and tried to pull him up. The green slime proved to be more slippery than either of them expected and they couldn’t get a good grip on him, the man still a little too weak to lift himself out. Dave quickly peeled off his shirt and shed his shorts and shoes, jumping in the liquid. It was surprisingly warm and made his skin tingle. Grabbing the older man bridal style, Dave kicked his legs and rose out of the vat as much as he could till John got a better grip on him. Pushing up, Dave closed his eyes and held his breath as he submerged himself in the tank to help propel the man completely out.

Once Mr. Egbert was free, Dave lifted himself from the tank, the green slime dripping off of him. Trying to scrape it off, Dave looked up and started laughing at the sight before him. John had his arms wrapped around a very naked Mr. Egbert, dripping green ooze onto him and neither seemed to care. John was even crying. Helping the older man climb down, Dirk met them all with towels and a big goofy grin.

“Let’s get you to your room,” Dirk helped John support the man, but Mr. Egbert finally brushed them off and decided to try and stand for himself.

“Go on,” He waved, “John can help me just fine. We’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Dirk just nodded, ruffling John’s hair before grabbing Dave’s discarded clothes and leading the way for his brother. When they got back to the room, Dave jumped in the shower. As he washed off the goo, the young blond found his skin was smoother and the scar on his shoulder from the bullet had faded just slightly. When he emerged from the shower, Dirk tossed him a pair of board shorts.

“What are these for?” Dave quirked a grin up at his brother.

“Those,” Dirk gestured to two wooden board propped up against the wall near the door.

“No way,” Dave’s eyes lit up.

“Let’s go surfing, little man.”

The sun was dipping lower in the sky lighting the water up a fiery red when Dave stood for the first time on his surfboard and rode the wave in with his brother. They had been trying for a couple of hours, though they took a brief break when Dirk had to kill a milky white creature that had risen out of the water near Dave, bearing its teeth menacingly and thrashing it’s horns around. Dirk had dove off his board and came up behind the creature, pulling the knife from his ankle strap and slitting the creature’s throat spewing purple-ish blood into the water. It took about ten minutes for Dirk to convince Dave to get back into the water, and even then they had to move about half a mile down the beach before the boy would try again.

Riding in a few more waves, the two decided they’d had enough and set in for the sand and firm ground. Spreading out one of the towels he’d brought, Dirk pulled Dave down beside him and the men cuddled close together in the dying light. Dave turned his head up and kissed his brother lazily before returning to the crook of the man’s arm, his hand tracing patterns on the older man’s abdomen.

“Can’t we just stay here?” Dave sighed, “Surf every day, make love every night, and just…be?”

“You’d get bored of that pretty quickly,” Dirk chuckled and ran his hand down to his stomach, interlocking his fingers with his brother’s, “Nice idea though. This place is paradise.”

“If we survive this, promise me we’ll do this more often.”

“I promise,” Dirk sighed happily, “I promise.”


	23. Chapter 23

Dave felt Dirk get out of the bed, but remained perfectly still. He’d heard the soft rapping at the door too, a faint knocking at first, then a clear yet muted rap on the door. Dave’s heart skipped a beat, he hoped it was John. The boy had obviously stayed with his father, but Dave felt a little lonely without his other lover beside him. He was getting too used to sleeping with John nearby. Dave half opened his eyes as Dirk opened the door. It was John! That silhouette was unmistakable.

“Jake,” Dirk’s voice was low and flat.

“Dirk,” Dave’s heart hardened and he almost let out a growl until he head a hiccuped sob escape the man, “Dirk, I don’t know what to do.”

“Jake,” Dirk sighed as if to say something, but just dropped his shoulders.

“Dirk, I’m so sorry,” Jake hiccuped another sob, “I’m sorry for everything. I can’t take it anymore. I can’t do it.”

“Shh,” Dave felt his stomach twist as Dirk wrapped his arms around Jake and pull him in.

Dave wanted to hate this man. Dave wanted to hate everything this man had done. But right at that moment, the boy understood a little more. Yes, his brother was in pain. Yes, Jake had hurt him. But Jake had hurt himself too. Dirk had moved on, gone somewhere else, accepted who he was, and had made a new life for himself. Jake had hidden away, tried to pretend, but he had slowly been unraveling for decades. Dave’s heart sunk. That was a very long time to rot away inside. As he watched Dirk cradle Jake, he felt his hatred melt away and pity seep in.

“I’m so sorry,” the dark haired man repeated into the older blonde’s shoulder, “I know I can’t take it back. I can’t. I hurt you and I’m so sorry. But I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t do it. Dirk, I’m unraveling. Please.”

“Shh,” Dirk shushed him again, “You’ll wake the kid.”

Dave almost laughed aloud. His brother knew damn well he was awake. But the boy kept still. There was a lesson here, and he wanted to learn it so he would know what mistakes not to make.

“I need you to take Janey,” Jake glanced quickly over to the bed and lowered his voice, “I need you to take Janey and Jade and get them away from me. Get them all away. Set them free, because I can’t. I can’t stand to be alone but I can’t keep them trapped here.”

“Why me?” Dirk looked Jake in the eyes, locking him in a gaze.

“Because,” the other man hiccuped again and grit his teeth, “Because I want to hate you. Because I want to resent you like you do me. Because I want my heart to break like I broke yours. Like I broke Jane’s. I want to hate you all so I can become numb to this pain.”

“I don’t hate you, Jake,” Dirk’s voice was barely a whisper, and Dave could hear a ragged edge creep into the older blonde’s tone.

“You should,” Jake sobbed again.

“Fuck,” Dirk sighed a took a deep breath, only the hint of a shudder at the end.

Without warning, Dirk stooped down and kissed Jake. It was shallow at first, but then Jake clung to him like he was drowning and the blond was the only thing keeping his head above water. He shook, his body wracked with tremors as tears streamed down his face and little whimpered apologies choked out between where their lips met. Finally Dirk gently but firmly pushed Jake back.

“What do you really want?”

“Dirk?”

“What do you really want?” Dirk’s voice was a little more firm this time, “Do you want to stay here and die alone on this island?”

“No,” the man hiccuped another sob, “No.”

“Then tell me what you really want, Jake.”

“I want you to forgive me.”

There was silence. Dave wanted to jump up and scream. He wanted to scream to his brother to forgive Jake. The pain was palpable in the air. He remained still, however, as the silence settled in. Finally, Dirk spoke.

“What you did nearly destroyed me,” his voice was calm, almost soothing, “What you’re doing to Jane is destroying her. You’ve fucked up majorly here Jake. I don’t know that anything will change. I don’t know what will happen. And I’m still very, very hurt. But Jake? I forgave you a long time ago, even if I could never even admit it to myself. Because of you I’ve raised an awesome kid. I’ve become closer to my friends. I’ve lived every single day because the pain you caused me only made me stronger. And it’s because I forgave you. I forgive you.”

Dave felt tears rise in his own eyes as Jake clung to Dirk again, sobbing uncontrollably. When he’d calmed back down, Dirk shushed him with one more small kiss before coaxing him to go to bed with promises they’d talk in the morning. After closing the door, Dirk let out a heavy sigh and trudged back to the bed. His face was drawn and seemed older suddenly, but Dave saw a relief in the tension in the man’s shoulders.

“Sorry, little man,” Dirk sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“For what?” Dave sat up and wrapped his arms around his brother’s back.

“I should’ve slammed the door in his face.”

“No,” Dave nuzzled his brother’s neck, “That would have been the most heartless thing you could’ve done. Instead you treated him very nobly. You were Princely beyond belief.”

“Princely?” Dirk chucked, “Guess I’m the Prince of Heart then. And you, sir, can be my knight in shining armor.”

“Just in time,” Dave chuckled and turned his brother’s head to capture his lips, “I’m younger you remember? So I’m the Knight of Time then.”

“Whatever you say,” Dirk chuckled, “Let’s get some sleep.”

Dave kisses Dirk deeply before pulling his brother back into bed, pulling the older man’s arm around him tightly, “Yes, let’s.”


	24. Chapter 24

The hanger clicked and echoed as guns were loaded and checked, supplies was shuffled, bags zipped up tightly, and the small team made ready to depart. Jane and Roxy had filled everyone in at breakfast that they had found their hunter hold up in a safe house in Alaska.

“We’ll be on his field,” Jane admitted, “So the chances are good that things might go badly. But it’s the only chance we have. He’s been hopping around the country.”

“This might be a trap,” Josh had sighed scratching his chin.

“It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” Dirk agreed.

Dave felt a little downtrodden when Jake didn’t show up to breakfast, but he didn’t say anything. He could see it had effected his brother too. In fact the whole hanger had a tense, sad air to it as they waited for Roxy to pull the plane up to load. A clanging sound made everyone turn as a side door slid open with a metallic groan. Dave felt a smirk threaten his lips as Jake entered pulling a cargo pallet behind him. Jane gave him a quizzical look.

“I’m sorry, Janey,” Jake piped up, “But if we’re going to leave this island, we are going to need a few more supplies.”

“We?” Jane scoffed.

“Yes,” the man took in a deep breath, “Look, I’m sorry. For a lot of things. And you may berate me the whole flight there and never come back if you so choose but I’ll be damned if we’re not taking some heavy equipment to make sure we’re not hunted till the ends of the earth.”

“Are those…?” Dirk looked at the boxes on the pallet and then back to Jake.

“I tried to complete them as best I could, based off your schematics,” Jake blushed a little, “Though you might want to check them once we establish a base camp.”

An engine sounded and Dirk opened the hanger door. The eight able bodied occupants quickly loaded the cargo hold and Mr. Egbert drove the truck aboard. As they took off, Dave once again gripped the arm rest firmly, but John kissed him once they leveled off and he couldn’t help but smile. As the island grew faint, Dave felt an anxious anticipation settle over him. He watched Jane and Jake quietly talk and he hopped things went well for him. Josh and Rose were clicking through a tablet, tracing out routes and occasionally Roxy or Dirk would come back from the cockpit to check in. Dave felt a little useless, until he realized that his brother had just graced him with a different skill set, more combat oriented and less strategically based.

The sun was dipping on the horizon as land suddenly came in to view. Dave pondered how exactly they were able to travel without detection or sparking the interest of multiple government agencies, but then he figured between Roxy and Jane’s apparent hacking abilities and all of their agency connections that this sort of thing was relatively routine. As the sun set, a brilliant city lit the scape ahead and Dave guessed it had to be Anchorage. They landed on a small air strip off the main hub and quickly unloaded their cargo. An unmarked cargo van and a black SUV stood waiting for them and they quickly loaded their equipment before Dirk taxied the plane into a waiting hanger. There was a small vacant office just inside there the nine gathered and laid out their final preparations.

“As of yesterday, Noir was holed up in a safe house just off Quartz Lake,” Roxy pointed to a small lake on the map, south of Fairbanks, “Now our best plan would be to lay low tonight and strike out mid-afternoon tomorrow.”

“How long to get there?” Josh inspected the map.

“It’s about an eight hour drive in good weather,” the blonde continued.

“Why not go now?” John interjected.

“If we go now, we’ll get there tired and unfocused,” Jane explained, “And that wouldn’t bode well for us.”

“Rest tonight, hit the road early tomorrow, get there just around nightfall, give him hell,” Roxy smiled.

“Great,” Dirk rolled his shoulders, “Where we stayin’?”

“Hotel Alyeska,” Roxy winked at the older blond, “I believe you liked that one when we were on that Russian trip.”

“The one with the cute Inuit girl at the front desk?” Dirk chuckled.

Dave just rolled his eyes. The band rolled out the short drive to their destination and Dave rolled his eyes again when they pulled up to the hotel. If you could call it a hotel. It was a damn resort! And a rather large one at that. Well, he figured, if it was possibly going to be their last night on earth, might as well enjoy themselves, right?

When they divided up for the rooms, Dirk opted to stay with the boys rather than stay alone. Roxy winked as she strolled off on Josh’s arm, Jake and Jane looked rather calm as they took to their own room, and Jade and Rose were practically bouncing about having a sleepover in their room. Dave and John changed into their swimming suits and made for the pool right away, leaving Dirk clicking away at his laptop. When they returned they found the blond stretched out in just his underwear, flipping through the television channels.

A devious smirk passed between the boys as they shed their swimming trunks and climbed up the bed towards Dirk who laughed heartily before switching off the TV. John locked lips with the older blond as Dave latched on to his earlobe, his hand snaking down his brother’s boxer briefs and pawing at the quickly hardening lump of flesh held therein. John kissed his was down Dirk’s jaw and the man let out a low groan as Dave tugged his underwear down, Dirk kicking them off impatiently at the end. As Dave slid between his brother’s legs and took his throbbing cock into his mouth, John straddled Dirk’s chest, pushing his dick into the older blonde’s waiting mouth.

None of them heard the door click open, only the gasp that made all their heads turn. Jake stood framed in the entryway of the room, keycard in hand and jaw dropped. John tried to pull away out of embarrassment, but Dirk held his hips firm and slowly returned to sucking the boy’s dick, his eyes open and staring directly at the newcomer. Dave smiled as he too returned to the cock he had been sucking on. The younger blond didn’t really know what to expect from the other man. When Jake took in a deep, shuddering breath and peeled off his shirt, however, Dave felt his heart (And his cock) jump. Carefully, Jake undid his belt and pushed his jeans and underwear to the floor, quickly stepping out of them before standing there naked, unsure of what to do.

Dirk extended his hand and Dave saw Jake visibly shiver, his dick flexing in response as his feet stumbled him towards the bed. When he was within reach, Dirk grabbed ahold of Jake’s dick and the other man gasped a moan before sinking his knees onto the bed and pushing his forehead into John’s shoulder. John was a little uneasy at first, but then tentatively pressed his lips to Jake’s brow. The man looked up and Dave could see something pass between them before they timidly began to kiss, Dirk still stroking Jake’s dick and sucking on John’s. When Jake’s hand came wandering over, Dave was going to reluctantly release his hold on his brother’s cock, but Jake’s hand strayed to the younger blonde’s shoulder and gently pulled. Dave got the message and adjusted his position so Jake could wrap his fingers around the teen’s dick.

After a few minutes, Dave rolled off his brother’s cock and pulled Jake down towards his own. The man hungrily devoured Dave’s pulsating member as Dirk pushed John onto his back, lifting the boy’s legs and burying his face into the dark haired boy’s ass. John squirmed and moaned at the new onslaught, his fingers searching till they found Dave’s and intertwined with his. Dave pulled Jake up into a kiss and panted against the older man.

“Red bag. Lube in the front pocket. Top or bottom, I don’t care.”

Jake went rigid, his green eyes searching Dave’s red ones. With a bit of hesitation, Jake crossed to the bag and pulled out a small bottle before returning to the bed. Dave slid his hands behind his head and smirked, his body laid out completely for Jake to devour with his eyes and whatever other parts he chose.

“Cock bastard really is just like you,” the dark haired man chuckled.

“Mm hm,” Dirk hummed, making John gasp and groan as the vibration went through Dirk into him.

Jake contemplated for a moment before squirting out some of the liquid and smearing it onto his fingers before passing the bottle to Dirk’s waiting hand. Jake carefully pushing his finger’s against his own entrance and Dave’s eyes lit up as he watched the man bite on his bottom lip just like John did. Once he had prepped himself, Jake climbed onto Dave’s lap, lining up the boy’s cock before slowly sitting down on it.

“Fuck,” Dave drawled as his cock was enveloped in warm tightness.

“Dirk,” John gasped pitifully and clenched Dave’s hand even tighter as his brother pressed into the dark haired boy.

Dave wrapped the fingers of his free hand around Jake’s cock and pumped as the man rocked in his lap. Leaning over, Dirk locked lips with Jake as he slammed into John, pumping the moaning boy quickly. It wasn’t to last and soon a chorus of pants and groans signaled the oncoming end. John was first, his voice raising an octave and he gripped Dave’s hand so hard it hurt. Jake was next, grunting fiercely as he spilt ropes of hot cum onto Dave’s chest, the resulting vice grip on his cock sending Dave over the edge. Jake then dismounted Dave and buried his face into Dirk’s waiting lap, slurping away until Dirk filled his throat with shallow thrusts.

Climbing the bed to his boyfriend, John kissed Dave repeatedly before snuggling up to him completely exhausted. Dave looked over and found Jake in much the same position on his brother. The two blonds smiled at each other as they stroked their lovers lovingly.

“Remind me to thank Roxy for a copy of your room key,” Jake mumbled and the other three couldn’t help but laugh.


	25. Chapter 25

The sun had dipped closer and closer to the horizon as the hours had worn on. Dave would’ve been entertained by the scenery, but he was too on edge about the mission to bother noticing the high snowcapped peaks and rolling green valleys. The morning had flown by. Dave and John had eaten breakfast alone together in silence. Dave hadn’t wanted to think of the possibility of either of them dying, but if it did happen he wanted to have some good last memories. They laid together on the hotel bed and kissed and told each other how much they loved the other. Too soon, however, they had to rejoin the group before sliding into different vehicles, John with his father and Roxy and Dave with his brother.

As they barreled towards their fate, Dave tried to distract himself, “Dirk?”

“Hm?”

“So what’s the plan? I mean, after all this is over?”

“Well we’ll probably go back to Texas,” Dirk smiled, a welcomed relief from the tension that was building, “You have a year of school to finish.”

“Oh fuck that,” Dave scoffed, “I want to be an agent!”

“Sorry sport, gotta wait till you’re 18,” the older blond laughed, “But I’m sure I can pull a few strings and get you on the books for evaluation.”

“Pretty sure killing a top ranking official is going to put a damper on that.”

“You’d be surprised,” Dirk mused, “The hierarchy comes and goes, surprisingly it’s the pawns that are the most valuable.”

“What about me and John? And you? And Jake?”

“Well the agency doesn’t discriminate against gays if that’s what you mean,” Dirk sighed, “However fraternization is sort of frowned upon so you’ll have to keep it low key.”

“And you?”

“Well technically I’m your guardian, so they can’t keep us apart. Surprising legal ramifications they actually pay attention to.”

Dave was quiet for a minute before adding once more, “And Jake?”

Dirk took a long breath in before huffing it out, “I dunno, Little Man. Can’t say I’m fond of the son of a bitch, but he is rather pitiful when it comes right down to it.”

“You still love him?”

“Of course I do,” the older blond laughed, “Doesn’t mean I’m going to take him back. He’ll have to work and show he really wants to before I’ll fully let him back in my life.”

“And last night?” Dave smirked.

“Well we might just die today so having on good last fuck with three fucking hot guys isn’t a bad endcap to my life.”

The small caravan turned off the road just past sunset onto a dirt path. About a mile off the road they stopped in a little clearing. This would be their basecamp. Roxy, Jane, and Rose set up laptops and maps for real time strategy and communications while the boys and Jade unloaded the artillery. Dave helped Dirk and Jake unpack the boxes Jake had brought in on a skid the day before. The young blond couldn’t believe his eyes. He had tried on his brother’s exo-skeleton arm and had felt the power behind it, but now there were two full exo suits loaded with weapons and ready to go.

“Impressive,” Dirk turned to Jake and smiled, “Just gotta recalibrate them. That won’t take much time.”

Once the preparations were in place, the small band gathered around a printout map spread across the table as Roxy detailed the plan, “Alright, First we’ll need to break through the perimeter. He doesn’t have many agents here, but they’re good. After that, all hell is gonna break loose. We’ll need suppression snipers to cover the entry team so Rose, Jade, and I will be stationed around here.”

The woman indicated little marks on the map, effectively covering two sides of the compound shown, “Now once inside you’ll have to sweep through and find him.”

“I can hack any security systems,” Jane offered, “That should make any preliminary internal defenses obsolete.”

“We’re gonna need eyes back here for real time feed and coordination,” Jake looked at Josh.

“Oh no, I’m not sitting out again,” the older man shook his head.

“Josh, you’ll get killed in there,” Dirk tried to reason.

“My boy is not going in there without me!”

“Dad,” John spoke up, “Stay here. You’ll be better help here.”

Josh took a deep breath but didn’t argue anymore and allowed Roxy to finish, “So the entry team are you five then.”

“Is there a back-up plan?” Jane chuckled darkly.

“Get the kids out if we can,” Jake nodded, “We can cover their escape.”

“Not on your life,” Rose snarked, “He’s going down or we’re all dead anyway.”

No one argued with her. Signs of affection were exchanged all around as the teams loaded up their arms and headed out. Dave clipped a small communications device onto his ear as he watched Rose, Roxy, and John disappear one direction and Jake, Jane, and Jade the other, all of them melting into the darkness. Dirk helped Dave up into his exo suit as he explained.

“Eject is here, weapons triggers are self-explanatory,” the older man smiled up at his brother, “Just move naturally, it’ll feel like an extension of your body, not an encumbrance.”

Once they were both suited up, the two men set off into the night themselves. Dirk was right, the suit felt like it wasn’t even there and it was silent so they’re approach went unnoticed. As they came to the edge of the tree line, Dirk motioned for Dave to stay back and stay quiet. There was a crack and across their field of vision and figure moved across the break, a rifle clearly visible in its profile. Dirk was out of his exo suit and across the short distance like lightning, quickly toppling the figure and putting it out of commission with a quick twist of its neck. Dave each clicked to life with his brother’s voice.

“Downed a guard at the south east edge of the clearing. All clear.”

“Took out two on the north east slope,” Roxy replied, “All clear here.”

“Got one on the south side,” Jake buzzed in, “Is that all of them?”

“Two more on the north,” Josh replied, “But they’re out of range. Looks like you’re free to cause chaos. Good luck guys.”

Dave let his brother get back into his suit before the pair approached the edge of the clearing. The ground sloped gently away for a few hundred years where a large cabin stood, armed men stationed on the roof and military grade vehicles in the drive taking away from the quaintness of it. Dave steadied his breathing and waited. Soon a voice came over his com device. It was Roxy.

“Target acquired. Engaging.”

A shot rang out and a man on the roof tumbled down with a thud. The cabin began to move like a kicked ant hill as guards ran to investigate the body and a few headed off in the direction the shot came from. BANG! Another shot took out one of the men running to investigate. The rest knelt and trained their guns on the trees. When a third shot came from a different direction, the men began firing wildly into the woods.

“That’s our cue,” Dirk smirked, “Let’s go, Little Man.”

The brothers burst from the trees and laid waste to the forces caught off guard. Panic and chaos reigned amongst the soldiers as sniper fire continued to hail from the surrounding trees and the two exo suit clad brothers mowed down all resistance. Making a clearing to the visible door, Dave smiled as Jake, Jane, and John bolted for them. A sudden tang and a loud hiss brought cursing from Dirk who swung his machine around, firing wildly at the roof before ejecting himself and pulling out his pistol.

“Take out my pneumatics, eh?” Dirk accentuated his frustration with a well-aimed pistol shot, “Fuck you!”

Jane raced to the door and quickly pulled apart the keypad next to the lock, quickly crossing wires before shouting, “We’re in!”

“Go,” Jake shouted signaling Dave out of his suit, “I’ll take it. John? Guard the door.”

Dave passed a fleeting kiss to his boyfriend who framed himself against the interior of the door, pistol trained out. Upon entering the cabin, Dave found two bodies lying face down already, Jane reaching around a door frame and pulling another guard around it and unceremoniously shooting him. Mr. Egbert’s voice called over the radio.

“He’s there. Second floor. He just tried to send out a call. I’m still jamming the signals.”

The three slowly inched down the corridor, pistols down, searching every doorway. Suddenly a shot rang out as Jane rounded a corner and she fell grabbing her arm. As a figure rounded the corner, she swept at its feet. Dave raised his weapon but the figure had Jane and stood, his arm pressed tightly around her throat and a pistol to her head.

“Drop the weapon, boy,” Dave sneered at the voice, he knew this man.

“Droog!” Dave spat at the agent who had first held him at gunpoint the same way he now held Jane, “What, didn’t like the panties Roxy put you in?”

“Drop it you son of a bitch!” the man seethed and Dave slowly lowered his weapon, “Good. Now you two are coming with me.”

Dave only had a second to register what he’d said before he saw his brother appear behind Droog. Dirk must have slid into a room when Jane got shot. It was all Dave could do not to smile broadly as Dirk slowly approached from behind.

“Hey Droog,” Dirk called and disarmed the man as he turned, surprised.

A short scuffle ensued before Dirk placed both arms around the struggling agent’s neck, “Never threaten anyone I love.”

A sickening snap and Droog’s body fell to the ground in a heap. Dave rushed to Jane who waved him off.

“Go on, I’ll be fine.”

Nodding to his brother, Dave picked his weapon backup and followed the older blond up the stairs. The hallway was dark except for a light that poured from an open doorway towards the end of the hall. Gun fire still rang out occasionally from outside. A voice cut the air from inside the lit room, full of unabated rage.

“Go fucking check, you fat lummox! You’re as dumb as a fucking boxcar sometimes.”

“Droog will be fine, boss.”

“Hearts, if you don’t go out there I’ll fucking kill you myself.”

A huge shadow filled the doorway and Dave lifted his pistol but Dirk steadied him. An absolute giant of a man came in to view. He looked right at the two men. Hell he almost smiled as he called back into the room.

“All clear here boss.”

“DOWN STAIRS!” the voice screamed.

The man sighed heavily and approached the two men. Dirk stood tall and nodded as the man past between them and disappeared downstairs. When Dave pulled a questioning look, Dirk simply smirked with a wink before raising his gun and continuing down the hall. As they came to the door, Dave felt his heart race and suddenly stop as Dirk gave the signal and they rounded the door into the room.

The room was warmly lit and decent sized, the walls pushing back quite a ways from the door opening onto a a large screen displaying security screens. On several, soldiers were hunkered down as shots rang out occasionally outside. Dave made a mental note of one showing Jake still in the exo-suit guarding the door, and another showing John tending to Jane just inside. In the middle of the room stood a large cheery wood desk, a small statue of a Scotty dog and a lamp framing it, a large black revolver in the center on top of a stack of papers and a letter opener. Behind the desk sat a lanky, greasy figure, one eye covered in a patch, his hair swept back like it had been pushed there out of frustration. The man wore a sneer as he steepled his hands and glared at the two men who had just walked in guns drawn.

“Strider,” even his voice was oily, it reminded Dave of a viper’s hiss, “So good of you to come. I’m guessing from the lack of gunshots that I’m going to have to kill Hearts once I’m done with you.”

“Always a pleasure, Slick,” Dirk nodded, his gun staying trained on the man.

“I suppose there’s not much to say, then?” Slick just smiled, “Other than good bye.”

“It’ll be a pleasure to kill you,” Dirk purred.

“Oh, I think the pleasure will be all mine.”

Slick moved so quick Dave didn’t have time to react. The man stood, grabbing his gun with a well-trained hand and turned it towards Dave. Dirk instantly dove in front of his brother as a shot rang out. As Dirk collapsed to the floor, Dave fired haphazardly at Slick who flipped his desk, sending its contents flying towards Dave who naturally defended himself against the onslaught. As he looked up, Dave had to drop his pistol and block as Slick appeared from around the toppled desk and began with a series of blows. Dave managed to hold his own, but Slick fought with ferocity that Dave had never experienced before. Struggling to gain ground, Dave took the one opening he could find and rolled out of the way to nab the first thing he could lay his hands on, the letter opener. When he stood, it was almost comical that he had such a weapon, but it was a blade, something he felt much more comfortable with. However, Slick had made his own move. Held tight in his grip was the weakly struggling figure of Dirk, blood oozing from the man’s side, Slick’s revolver pressed hard against his temple.

“Drop it, kid,” Slick laughed.

“Why,” Dave scoffed, “You’ll just kill us both anyways.”

“True,” Slick shrugged, “But I’ll let you say good bye before you die.”

“I’m sorry Dirk,” Dave began to lower the letter opener as his brother struggled with a little more effort.

“Dave,” Dirk choked.

“I guess I’ll just have to die another day,” and with the Dave tossed the blade up and jumped.

Slick turned his gun out as Dave spun in the air but never guessed at what was happening. Dave had seen this move in a movie once, he knew the mechanics of how it worked. With a mid-air round house kick with the heel of his foot, Dave sent the letter opener flying through the air straight and true. With a liquid squelch, it pieced through Slick’s good eye and deep into his head. The man wore a stunned look for a brief second before his corpse fell backwards, releasing Dirk into a heap on the floor.

Dave ran to his brother and tried to staunch the blood, “Shit!”

“Ow dude!” Dirk cursed, “Watch it little man.”

“Don’t die on me,” Dave felt his throat tighten slightly until Dirk snorted at him.

“Hardly,” the older blond took a shuddering breath, “Didn’t hit anything vital. Just hurts like a bitch.”

“We’ll get you to a hospital,” Dave tried to calm himself.

“Little man? Look at me, Dave,” Dirk put his hand to his brother’s face, “I’m going to be fine. Calm down. You did good.”

Tears welled up in Dave’s eyes, “Can this be over now?”

“Well, I think you killed him,” Dirk turned his head towards Slick’s corpse, “So, to use your words, I guess we’ll live to die another day.”

Dave laughed as tears poured down his face, “Oh my god that was so fucking cheesy, I know.”

The two brothers laughed together until a large shadow filled the doorframe. Dave felt his skin go cold as he saw the gun trained in their direction. It was the man they had let past them only moments before. But his gun wasn’t on them, in fact he nodded to the two men as he entered the room and pulled a radio from Slick’s corpse before putting a bullet into the body for good measure.

“Cease hostility immediately,” He called over the radio, “Order an emergency medical evac and clean up team. Code 413. I am now in charge of this operation.”

“Who are you?” Dave looked up at the hulking man.

“Director Heart,” the man smiled, “Your new boss.”


	26. Chapter 26

“This is so fucking lame,” Dave groaned as the truck pulled into the high school parking lot.

The medvac team had rushed Dirk to the waiting helicopter. They tried to keep Dave from going but one look and they decided not to press it. The man spent the next week in recovery, Jane in the room down the hall for a few days, the rest were treated for minor injuries and released. Dave was a little weary that they were kept on lock down in the base, but Dirk assured him it was protocol. Debriefing happened the day before Dirk was released. The young man had never felt as nervous as he did sitting around that conference table. Director Heart, however, tried to make the process as painless as possible. Dave’s heart sank as a giant stack of papers was dropped in front of him with a pen.

“Standard Non-Disclosure Agreements,” the giant man had smiled, “As well as evaluation consent, medical forms, tax forms, and payroll.”

“Payroll?” John looked up just as daunted as Dave.

“Pending evaluation,” Heart smiled, “Welcome to the Agency.”

“Wait,” Roxy flipped through her papers, “What’s this Termination of Status form?”

“Oh, that,” the man shrugged, “You’ve all been reassigned.”

“Reassigned?” Dirk groaned, “I hate desk work.”

“Who said anything about desk work?” Hearts laughed, “No, I’m starting a new unit. Specialized Research, Development, and Reconnaissance Department. You’ll all be my first team.”

There had been some discussion about terms and work, most of which Dave zoned out for. His eyes were glued to the dark haired man across the table who blushed but returned secretive glances occasionally. Once they had signed all the necessary paperwork, Director Heart told them all they were considered on paid administrative leave for a year so the teens could finish school and, along with their guardians, make what preparations they needed to. Dave couldn’t tell if Dirk looked relieved or annoyed, but he himself was just a little perturbed by the idea of going back to school for one more year. That was until John came to him.

“Dave, I cleared it with Dad and he said it was ok but, do you want to go somewhere together?”

“Somewhere?” Dave smirked, “We’ve been somewhere. And back again. Gotta be more specific, nerd boy.”

“I was thinking a vacation,” John rolled his eyes, “Ya know, just us.”

Dave thought about it for a moment before kissing his boyfriend tenderly, “I hear Italy is wonderful this time of year.”

With the sudden development of employment in the United States Government, the boys found their tickets and lodgings were covered as a company expense and that they could leave on a plane the next morning. John was a bit antsy at first until his father made it clear he was going to be alright. Roxy conveniently looked away as she slid her hand across the man’s shoulder. Dave could barely conceal his smirk. Rose made no secret about her intentions to help Jade move all her stuff as she and Jane would be moving to Hawaii, still close enough to their old home and still an island, yet near civilization that Jane seemed to crave. Dave worried when Dirk returned from a brief walk with Jake, however.

“He’ll be alright,” Dirk sighed, “He actually wants to stay on the island for a while. Find himself or whatever.”

“You gonna go with him?” Dave couldn’t help but feel a little jealousy creep into his voice.

“Only to help the girls pack,” Dirk assured his brother, “Then I’ll be waiting at home for you to get back.”

“Not going with us to Italy?” Dave poked, he knew John had offered his brother to join but had been politely turned down, the older man siting the boys needed to get away by themselves.

Dirk pulled Dave into a kiss, “You’ll be fine without me for a few days I think.”

Dave moaned into the kiss, “You sure about that?”

As the older man’s hand slid down and grabbed the front of his brother’s jeans, he let out a thick laugh, “I think you’ll manage.”

Their encounter was brief as Dirk was still a little weaker, but Dave didn’t mind as the man still found the energy to fuck Dave hard into the hospital bed. The next morning, Dave and John left for Italy. Their trip was filled with days of sightseeing, afternoons of fine dining, and nights of love making. When they were forced to part ways at the airport, Dave kissing John for so long he almost missed his flight, he didn’t give a fuck who saw. When the cab pulled up in front of the familiar apartment building, Dave felt a wave pass over him. It was surreal coming back here, like the summer hadn’t happened at all. Dirk was waiting for him, sword in hand, and the brother’s made for the roof to strife like old times. All too soon, however, it was time to start school up again.

“Can’t I just drop out?” Dave turned to his brother, pleading even as his hand reached reluctantly for the door handle.

“Nope,” Dirk smiled, “Should’ve read the fine print on all that paperwork. You have to graduate.”

“This is bullshit,” Dave sighed again, “How long till Christmas Break?”

“Don’t give me that,” Dirk scoffed, “We’re going up to see your boyfriend this weekend.”

“Alright, alright!” Dave pulled on the door handle.

Dirk suddenly grabbed the younger man and pulled him close, pressing their lips together feverishly before whispering, “Have a good day.”

Dave climbed from the truck, his head spinning. Shouldering his backpack, the blond took a deep breath before walking to meet other students filtering into the stone building. If he could fight agents all summer long, defy death, and go on an action packed adventure, his last year of school should be a breeze.

 

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it has been a great ride! I’ve really enjoyed this fandom and my years spent here. However, as with all good things, this too must end. I find myself moving on to other things in life, and other fandoms as well. It’s been wonderful writing Homestuck fanfiction for all of you, and I will never stop writing (I want to be a professional author after all!), and I’ll still write fanfiction just in other fandoms. I hope to see you around and maybe someday I’ll come back to Homestuck, but until then and as always, Peace!


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